Chances and Opportunities
by SirenAlpha
Summary: If only Zuko had looked around and seen Katara as she fled from the Jasmine Dragon straight to the Earth King's Palace and into Azula's clutches.
1. The Sight of Blue

Kept forgetting to put this up on ffnet when I've had it up on ao3 for a good while. Anyways...

So, I've always felt that Zuko just looking up and seeing Katara at the end of s2e19 would be a small action with big impact on the story. So I'm finally writing something about it. Obviously, it also has to be zutara, and me being me I also added in some world building. The Zutara in this might end up not getting all that romantic depending on how far I decide to go with this but they are going to be the main characters for this fic and their relationship is going to be front and center.

Okay, that said, hope you enjoy!

* * *

Zuko catches a flash of blue out of the corner of his eyes. He keeps the friendly server smile on his face as he turns to look out of the open doors of the tea shop. The Avatar's waterbending master, still in her water tribe blues, runs across the plaza away from the shop.

"Excuse me," he says to the man he's serving as he sets down the tea as well as the tray he was carrying it on then turns and bolts out of the front door.

She might have a head start on him in addition to knowing where he's headed, but he has height on her. It doesn't take him long to catch up, and he takes care not to touch her as he skirts around her to get in front of her and block her way.

"Get out of my way, Zuko," she warns, practically shouting his name for everyone to hear. Her flask is already uncorked and her hand rests inches above its mouth.

"Shut up," he hisses at her. "That name is dangerous."

"Only because it's your name and you're dangerous."

He swallows down a noise of frustration in case she was intentionally attempting to set him off. "Right now, you're putting both my uncle and me in danger so will you shut up and listen to me for a minute," he hisses at her, trying to control the volume of the confrontation.

He carefully assesses their surroundings without turning away from her. He can see other upper ring denizens walking around them with the sleeves of their robes hovering over their mouths so they can titter an gossip behind them. They might wear Earth Kingdom green rather than the red of his father's court, but Zuko knows the danger of the mouths hidden with expensive brocades even if he'd never learned to use them the way Azula and his father had. Zuko may be hidden in his green robes, merchant not noble class, but the waterbender is not in her tribal blues. He'll stick out in association to her and his distinctive scar. He chides himself for acting so rashly. Then again, perhaps it would have been worse still to let her go.

"Why should I trust you for even that long?" she asked, eyes narrowed and body still poised.

"There's no war in Ba Sing Se," he says, hoping she would understand his meaning even if she doesn't seem to understand why using his real name would be a problem. He had heard of the recent power shift in the palace, all the whispers the nobles brought with them to tea, and he knew the Avatar had been involved. Still, the Earth King is weak. His studies at home before his banishment had said as much, and traveling through the Earth Kingdom and living in Ba Sing Se reinforced it. Whoever controlled the Dai Li held Ba Sing Se, and the Earth King did not control the Dai Li. They wouldn't hesitate to crush him if they so much as caught a whiff of smoke from him.

He watches as horror momentarily crosses her face. Then, her fierce look returns. She lowers her hand, but doesn't close her flask. Zuko doesn't relax.

"I freed your bison," he adds.

"What?" she asks, shocked.

"I freed your bison," he says, unwilling to way from where or who from with so many open ears around them.

"How?" she asks, sounding amazed then her tone shifts to suspicion. "Why?"

"I have nothing to gain from attempting to return home," he says. "Will you please accompany me to the Jasmine Dragon as my guest so that I may explain myself in confidence."

She gives him a strange look. The words feel as strange in his mouth as they must sound to her. He hasn't had to use such language in years, and he's always been rather clumsy with it. It matters little with the danger she has put his uncle and him in, especially with Azula knocking at the gates if she hasn't already found a way to worm underneath them somehow already. Politeness is all he has in this damned city, and it's by far the weakest tool in his arsenal.

"I can't. I have a message to deliver, and I can't have you stealing it," she says, as if he had even known she was carrying a message.

"But you had the time and leniency to stop into a tea shop when I'm sure there are plenty of parties that would wish to see your messages contents," Zuko says, and he can think of several nobles he had seen just today on top of the Dai Li who would be interested in any of the Avatar's groups correspondence. "I'm not one of them."

She puffs up in anger as he has clearly pricked her pride, but she has little to volley back with as it is merely the truth. She takes a deep breath in and calms herself, but she doesn't move away. They're in a stand still now that they both know the other is in the upper ring and can't afford to the let the other go. Zuko already knows how this will end as she has the upper hand no matter how many barbed observations he throws at her.

She finally puts him out of his misery and says it. "You can come with me, and if you don't try anything, maybe I'll listen to you afterwards."

Her words are even coarser than his, and he grimaces. It's a very precarious position with the people still surrounding them, and his uncle lacking any other waitstaff in his shop. He can't just let her run off and tell the Dai Li about him and his uncle, but she might lead him right into their clutches anyways. He sighs because he has no better option. "I will accompany you and ensure you deliver your message without harm, provided that you refer to me only as Lee from now on."

"Lee?" she asked, sounding surprised and suspicious.

"It is appropriate that you refer to me by my given name as I have no family name to offer you, Master," he says, mustering up the dignity of every soldier he'd ever met who had risen above their station on merit with no family name to open doors for them. He is fairly sure that she has no family name herself, but he doubts it carries the same connotation in the Water Tribe that it does in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Thankfully, he can use her title rather than her name to refer to her inconspicuously in the Earth Kingdom just as he could have in the Fire Nation. Though he couldn't be sure that female masters were referred to the same as the male masters in the Earth Kingdom as they were in the Fire Nation as he'd yet to meet a female earthbending master.

"Okay then, Lee," she says, pronouncing the name sarcastically. "Let's go see the Earth King."

He considers questioning her judgement in bringing a banished, traitor Fire Nation prince to the Earth King under a war name, but instead bows to her in the style of Earth Kingdom merchants to nobles. He's seen it often enough in the tea shop to have learned it. She doesn't return it, and he ignores the likely unintended insult. He straightens from the bow and moves to stand on her left side and a step back, out of the way of her dominant hand. He had seen Earth Kingdom merchants stand a step to the side and back of nobles, but he hadn't been able to confirm if it had been done on the nobles' non-dominant side. His attendants had stood to his right until he had begun firebending and his father insisted that his attendants stand on his left. It was the first battle his mother had lost to his father.

"What are you doing?" she asks after a few moments of walking.

"Accompanying you," he answers, somewhat distracted with trying to fold his hands into his sleeves as the other merchants had done. The fabric doesn't fold the way he was familiar to and it came out bunched up and wrong.

"I can't see you when you stand there," she says, checking over her shoulder to look at him.

"That's the point. I'm accompanying you."

"I don't like having you where I can't see you."

He sighs then takes a step forward. It's highly inappropriate when he can barely be classed above a servant, and she is an honored guest of the King as well as a master bender, but she did ask for it. "Then I'll escort you, better?"

"Yes," she says, now picking up her pace. "What does it matter if you're accompanying me or escorting me? They're both just fancy ways of saying you're coming with me."

He bites down on his initial, reactionary comment, not wanting to risk offending her in public or otherwise cause her to start shouting again. He'd learned a lot from people who had never heard of and would never care for upper class etiquette in his time in the Earth Kingdom. It had put the manners of the Avatar's group into a new perspective, but it did make things difficult trying to blend into the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se. "It matters to the people around us, and the less they notice me the better."

"You think they care?" she asks, now looking at the people around them. The people around them are carefully avoiding looking at them, but that doesn't mean they aren't listening.

"Ba Sing Se is in the midst of a power struggle, and you are the waterbending master of the Avatar, the most powerful being in the world, and you think they aren't watching you?" he asks, feeling the strogest desire he's had in years to raise his sleeve and cover his lips so no one could read them. "Everyone is watching you."

She shakes her head like she doesn't believe him and continues to march on towards the palace. She gets him past the guards easily, and he has to work against his instincts and keep his head deferentially lowered instead of walking with his head high and his shoulders back like a prince. He looks up only once they're well past the gates.

Katara, he believes her name is now that he thinks about it, guides him through several antechambers to reach the throne room. His heart stops at the sight. The throne room is empty except for three girls he recognizes despite their heavy make up, and every half formulated he plan for making it through an audience with the Earth King is forgotten. Katara gasps beside him, and it's not one of horror, just surprise and delight. Zuko's stomach drops. She'll get them both killed or worse.

He puts a hand on her shoulder and turns her left to keep Azula on his right, trying to mimic one of his attendants redirecting him during his more misadventurous years of boyhood.

"What are you doing?" she hisses at him like a sand cat. "That's Suki and the Kyoshi warriors."

"Rather small entourage for the Kyoshi warriors, don't you think?" he asks, continuing to guide her away. "They're working the refugee ferries anyways. Those aren't your friends. That's Azula and her friends."

"But they're wearing Kyoshi Warrior armor and make up," she argues.

"And I'm wearing Earth Kingdom green. They stole the outfits, or maybe killed for them. Keep your voice down."

"Why should I?" she asks and wrenches herself free. Zuko raises his hands and steps back.

"If you want to march in there to your death, go ahead, but you're on your own. If you come with me though, keep your voice down so the Dai Li don't hear us."

"The Dai Li are on our side now," she insists.

"The Dai Li are barely better than mercenaries. The only side they're on is their own or more accurately their leader's. If Azula is in the palace you can be pretty sure it's not the Earth King they'll follow."

She clenches her teeth so she must know how precarious the Earth King's hold on the Dai Li is. He gives her a moment to decide. She glares at him. "Okay, what's your plan?"

"Get out of the palace," he says, beginning to walk down the hall again and away from the throne room. "Two on three aren't the worst odds, especially as you're a master waterbender, but I'm weaponless."

"Why aren't we running if we're retreating?" she asks, picking up her pace and keeping her voice down. "Aren't you a master firebender? You don't even need to carry your element with you so how can you be weaponless?"

Zuko gives her a weird look for calling him a master firebender. He would have thought through her travels and all she knew now that she'd be able to tell there were many superior firebenders to him. Still, he answers her inane questions "We don't run because it's inappropriate and we don't want to draw Dai Li attention. Acting oddly definitely will get us caught. I'm assuming the Dai Li have already learned that the Kyoshi Warriors aren't actually here, but that doesn't necessarily mean they know who they are, and I certainly can't let them know that I'm here. The end game is if Azula or I reveal ourselves and firebend it doesn't matter what plans the Dai Li leader has, we'll both be killed."

"Long Feng, that's their leader. Doesn't that make Azula weaponless, too?"

Zuko tilts his head, considering. "She's better than me at hand to hand. Still, she'd send Ty Lee and Mai first. Have you bested either of them on your own?"

"No," she admits sullenly.

"I could potentially beat either one of them if their skills haven't progressed beyond what can be assumed from when I last saw them," he says. "But I don't know that I could protect you if they took you down. I certainly couldn't take Azula alone or with one of them if you at least took one down with you. They're bad odds."

"Why would you protect me?" she asks.

Zuko gives her another weird look. "I said I would see you deliver your message without harm. I suppose allowing you to fight with me would be considered allowing you to come to harm, but it would be far ruder to suggest you couldn't hold your own as you are a master. Even so, if you were defeated it would be my duty to see that you weren't killed or captured or your message taken or destroyed."

"You would do all that just because you said so?" she asks.

"Yes," he says slowly. "Do you not keep your promises in the Water Tribes?"

"Yes, of course," she says defensively. "You just seem to be taking it rather far for just a promise. I thought you just said it because you were being all weird and formal. We're kind of enemies."

"Kind of," he says, almost laughing. "That's certainly one way of putting it. You can call me your enemy if you like, but I certainly don't see you as one of mine. I've abandoned my search for the Avatar. I only came after you because of the danger your knowing that my uncle and I were in the city posed."

"What?" she asks, holding out her hands like he said something offensive. "You chase us all over the world and now you're just like, it's whatever, I won't chase you anymore?"

"Yeah," he says then crosses the hall and opens a door. His guess that the relatively ornate door was hiding a formal dining room was correct. "This way. There should be a back way the servants use somewhere in here."

She follows him into the room. "Princes know about those?"

"Of course," he says, searching the far walls for any gaps. He's guessing it will be more difficult with earthbending being much finer than what the Fire Nation carpenters and architects could create. "It would be foolish to not know where all the entrances and exits are. Here it is."

He pushes on the door and it swings open, revealing a skinny, undecorated hall lit with glowing rocks rather than flames. "Hopefully this will lead to the kitchens and a way out."

She follows him into the hallway and shuts the secret door behind them. Zuko finds the hallway much creepier without any natural light. He doesn't even know how crystals could create enough light to see by, and he'd much prefer the soft light of candles than this eerie green lighting. He finds a door at the other end, and when he opens it, he's embraced by the warmth of a palace sized kitchen.

Katara doesn't waste any time looking about, stopping a scullery maid and asking, "Excuse me, could you tell us where the exit is?"

The maid eyes both of them suspiciously. "It's that way. Don't come through here again. We don't need any extra people in here mucking up our work."

"We're very sorry," Katara says, and Zuko thinks she's putting it on a little thick. "It won't happen again!"

Katara leads the way through the kitchen, and Zuko spends the entire time wanting to grab some of the food. He hasn't seen food this rich or plentiful in such a long time. It won't do him any good to take it, though. Katara opens the door out of the kitchen and outside. Zuko's relieved that it faces the wall surrounding the palace rather than leading to an interior kitchen garden. It must be where they take in shipments of food.

"What now?" Katara asks as they continue walking towards the palace wall and its guarded archway.

"Depends on who is available to us," he says. "Where's the Avatar?"

She gives him a suspicious look. "The Eastern Air Temple, where you and your sister can't get him."

"I told you, I'm not chasing him anymore. Why would I free his bison if I wanted to capture him?"

"I don't know," she admits, throwing up her hands. "But it's not like you've offered any proof. You've only given your word."

"My word is all I have," he says, and it's uncomfortable how true it is.

They keep silent as they pass the guards. Zuko counts the steps as they walk away and when they're far enough, he says, "We can run."

"Finally," she says, picking up her pace to a jog. "We should find the Earth King."

"He has his own guards. He'll be safe. We won't be," Zuko counters. "We should go back to the Jasmine Dragon and get my uncle."

"Can your uncle even fight?" she asks.

"Don't you know who he is?" he asks. "He's the Dragon of the West. I know he looks like a cooky old man, but he could certainly defeat Azula single handed."

"The Dragon of the West?" she asks, stumbling momentarily in her stride.

"Yes, I've only got one uncle."

"I thought," she starts then shakes her head. "Whatever, lead the way to the Jasmine Dragon."

"What did you think?" he asks even as he began leading them towards the tea shop.

She stays silent for several moments then says. "The Dragon of the West was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. There was a new Fire Lord, and you said you were the Crown Prince."

"So you thought my father was the Dragon of the West," he says, wondering how such an egregious error could come to be. The only explanation was how quickly his grandfather died after Lu Ten and how quickly his father was crowned in the aftermath. Perhaps there hadn't been clarity in the communications outside of the Fire Nation. "Is it commonly known outside of the Fire Nation that the current Fire Lord is Fire Lord Azulon's second son?"

"No, I don't think most people even knew there were two sons. Does it mean something?"

"I don't know, but that's not the issue we need to solve now," he says, shaking his head. "Where's your brother?"

"On the coast."

"So we're three on three, but two of us weaponless."

"I wish I knew where Toph was," Katara says.

"Who?" Zuko asks.

"Earthbending master, you might have seen her in that abandoned village where we faced Azula."

"I don't remember that," he says without remorse. He'd been rather busy at the time.

"She should still be in the city somewhere, but I haven't seen her in a few days because she's with her mother."

"Then that doesn't help us," he says, slowing down, and she slows as well.

"Why are we slowing down?"

"I don't see how we can stop whatever Azula's planning unless you have any ideas. She's safe in the palace with Ty Lee and Mai."

"Are you and your uncle enough to draw her out?" she asks.

"No, Ba Sing Se is a bigger prize. We'd need the Avatar."

"And he's not here," she says with a nod. "And we're three on three with two firebenders who can't firebend."

"And we have no idea what the Dai Li will do."

"Would your uncle have any ideas?"

"Probably," he says and sighs. "It would be more advantageous to strike now while we can surprise her because if she does manage to get Ba Sing Se and the Dai Li, she will find my uncle and me and kill us."

"Kill you?" she says, surprised.

"Why not? Even if I've been named a traitor, I will always weaken her claim to the throne just as my uncle does to my father," he says even though it's difficult to admit. He never would have before freeing the Avatar's bison. Uncle is lucky to have lived so far into his father's reign. He remembers that part of his history lessons well.

Katara stares at him so hard he sends a questioning look back at her. She asks, "Why is your father the Fire Lord if your uncle is first born?"

No one from the Fire Nation would dare ask him such a question as it would question his legitimacy as crown prince and his father as Fire Lord. Zuko's never had to think of an answer to this question before, and how could he explain it to anyone outside of his own family without them knowing all the people involved? "My only cousin, Crown Prince Lu Ten, died at the Siege of Ba Sing Se, and everything just got worse from there. That's why my father is Fire Lord."

"That's not much of an explanation," she says sourly.

"That's all I can tell you," he says. "This isn't someone else's family across the sea for me, okay? This is my family that this happened to."

"Sorry," she says, and she sounds genuinely remorseful.

They continue on in silence for a few moments before she speaks again. "What about the generals?"

"There are generals in the Upper Ring?"

"Yes, that's who I was coming from," she says, and Zuko nearly chokes on his own breath at the thought of her thinking it was safe to stop at a random tea shop when she was carrying a letter from a general meant for an Earth King. People would literally kill for that sort of information. "Couldn't they arrest Azula even if the Dai Li won't?"

"Yes, why didn't you say so earlier?" he asks, switching back to running, and she keeps up with him.

They burst out into the plaza they had left from. It seems like it had been more than the hour or so it had been. Zuko sprints the last few yards up to the Jasmine Dragon.

"Nephew," Uncle says, spotting him immediately. "Where have you been-."

He stops when Katara catches up to him. "Oh," he says, looking less like a kindly tea shop owner and more like a general.

"My sister is in town," Zuko says. "We should prepare a surprise for her."

Uncle nods then pastes a genial smile on his face as he turns back to his customers. "Forgive me everyone, but I must leave due to an unexpected family reunion."

There's an uproar, or as much as respectable nobles and merchants can make inside of a tea shop, but Uncle ignores them. He casts off his apron and follows them down the steps into the plaza. "What has happened?" he asks, and he's back to looking like a general.

"Azula's infiltrated the palace with Ty Lee and Mai, all dressed as the Kyoshi Warriors," Zuko explains as Katara leads the way to the Earth Kingdom generals.

"She must be aiming for control of the Dai Li then," he says.

"I thought so as well."

"We're short people on our own, though," Katara adds. "Aang is at the Eastern Air Temple, Sokka's on the coast, Toph is off somewhere else in the city, and you two can't firebend with the Dai Li around so we're going to the generals."

"And do they know who we are?" Uncle asks.

"No, they don't," Katara admits. She's clearly unhappy about having to lie to them, but that's what they'll have to do for this to succeed.

"They don't know Azula. They'll need our help," Zuko says.

"I'm surprised you would take this course of action, Nephew."

"What other option is there?" he asks, noting his uncle's surprise though he doesn't know why he would be. He's the one who said Azula needed to be taken down. "Master Katara nearly handed us both over to her just because they were all wearing fancy make up."

"Hey," she says warningly. "It was more than just fancy make up."

"Regardless," Uncle says, ending any chance of argument. "We have an advantage over Azula, and I doubt we will have another opportunity. We must use it."

"The only unknown is the Dai Li," Zuko says. "Will the generals be enough to get them to stand down or against Azula?"

"I don't know," Katara says with a frustrated sigh. "I would think they would choose to preserve the Earth Kingdom over siding with whoever leads them, but I'm not sure. They've messed around with brainwashing. They could have used it on themselves in which case it really doesn't matter who the leader is, just that they lead."

"They are the sort of people who care for order over all and only know how to follow the commands of their leader," Uncle says in a tone of disgust. "Unthinking and uncreative soldiers. They may even stay neutral without a true leader if it comes down to a decision between one of the generals and Azula. They'll be too confused and unused to being decisive.

"Anything is better than them joining her."

Uncle nods. "I agree. I'd like more time to plan this out, but Azula is rarely surprised. The time to act is now."

Zuko looks over to Katara to see how she feels on the subject. She meets his gaze with a fierce look of determination, and nods. She leads them to the government building where the generals are gathered.


	2. Spilling Blood

I added some family names because I feel like noble class girls would have family names. They're basically just Japanese names twisted a little.

* * *

Katara feels like she's lost her mind somewhere over the course of the day. One minute, she's spotted Zuko inside the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se and running to tell the Earth King of the infiltration, and now she's working with Zuko and his uncle to defeat his sister because while Zuko had gotten into the Upper Ring, she had gotten into the Palace. And everything had been looking up before then. It was just like Zuko to come crashing in and ruin everything.

The guards to the military building recognize her and let her pass with barely more than a glance at her present company despite even Zuko's scar. They must blend in better than she realized as the new hair and the green outfit seemed to be enough for everyone else. She leads the way back to the war room and finds the generals still in the room, loitering and discussing other matters with lower ranking military members while she'd been gone. She doubts that it's been more than an hour since she'd left.

"Master Katara?" General How asks. "We hadn't expected you to return so quickly."

"We have a problem," she says, skipping over pleasantries. "The Fire Nation has infiltrated the Palace. Princess Azula has disguised herself as a Kyoshi Warrior and is currently in the throne room, likely waiting for the Earth King. I left before she could notice me. We need to respond now before she realizes she's been discovered."

"What?" the general asks, and murmurs break out between the other generals and the lower ranking staff. "Who are these men? They shouldn't be privy to such sensitive information."

Katara glances at Zuko's uncle, and he gives her an encouraging nod. He'd recommended that she lie with the truth, but she still isn't sure what to say. Zuko, however, gives no help or encouragement with his attention totally focused on the generals. "This is Mushi and his nephew, Lee. The Avatar and our group has crossed paths with them before in the Earth Kingdom. They've fought more with the Fire Nation than we have. I needed Lee to help confirm that it was Princess Azula."

"You're soldiers?" General How asks, sounding suspicious. She'd hoped he would assume they were Earth Kingdom soldiers and were here to help on her word.

"We are no common foot soldiers who have abandoned their posts," Zuko's uncle says, and Katara realizes her mistake. "My nephew and I have...specialized, so to speak. We came to Ba Sing Se when our last operation failed in order to recover and resupply. I assure you, we are competent, and we can help you defeat Princess Azula."

The general seems mollified, but not totally sold on the explanation. He crosses his arms and asks, "And what exactly did you specialize in?"

"Fire Nation war strategy. I have knowledge of Princess Azula's masters and tutors. I know what tactics she has learned and which she prefers to use," he explains, and Katara realizes that it's probably true. As her uncle, he would know who had been chosen to train her and what they were like as teachers and fighters. He continues, "My nephew specializes in stealth and sabotage, but he is no slouch in combat either."

"Stealth," the general says, stroking his beard. "That's helpful only to a certain extent in a surprise attack. We don't have time to plan anything more complicated than a frontal assault if she's already in the Palace."

Katara also doubts Zuko's supposed stealth. He rushes into battle loud with blazing flames like every other Fire Nation soldier she's ever met.

"I can do more than sneak around, General," Zuko says, gone back to the deferential tone he'd used with her when he'd been trying to hide from the people around them. "I just need a pair of dual dao to prove it."

"Very well, the greater the numbers the better our odds," he says. "Mushi, how likely do you think we are to succeed with the dozen or so master earthbenders we have here, Master Katara, and you and your nephew? We'll also bring along as many guards as we can spare from this building."

Iroh considers this for a moment. "So long as we don't underestimate the princess and her two companions we should have a good chance of success. The princess is capable of generating lightning and while proud, capable of playing the long game. You must not allow her to escape and regroup with the men I am sure she has stationed outside the city walls. I would recommend her capture so that she may be used as leverage against the Fire Lord."

Katara looks at him for saying such a thing about his own niece, but Iroh shows no sign of conflict. She glances at Zuko, but she can't see enough of his expression to tell what he thinks of the plan. She prefers it, but she also feels a twinge of discomfort at working with people who can plan such things against members of their own family. Then again, Sokka isn't anything like Azula.

"Do you have any information on her companions?" General How asks.

"Yes, they are Ty Lee Hironata and Mai Kogo. Neither are benders, but they are by no means burdens to the princess. Ty Lee comes from an aristocratic Fire Nation family with ties to the Fire Nation's ninja clans. She is a master of chi blocking and can fell a man with one well aimed strike. Do not let her in close. Mai is the opposite. She is weak in close quarters but is extremely proficient in the use of all manners of small projectile weapons. Neither girl can truly be called a warrior, and both will surrender at Azula's defeat. Ty Lee only follows the princess out of fear, and Mai enjoys the thrill of small skirmishes but cares little for putting in effort or the gory realities of genuine battle."

Katara realizes he's right about Azula's companions. They give up easily compared to other Fire Nation soldiers, and they don't hold a candle to Zuko's determination. They had seemed so intimidating in their encounters with them, but those had all been relatively short battles and it still had been easy to escape them. A longer battle with heavy weight fighters, and they'd likely crack like thin ice.

"The Fire Lord was a fool to send such spineless combatants into the field," General How says.

"He sees Princess Azula as an extension of himself and has blinded himself to her faults. It is one of very few weaknesses," Iroh says, and Katara can't imagine what faults the princess has because she has yet to see any. "She would have done better to have chosen well trained soldiers she trusts rather than aristocratic girls who learned their narrow skills out of fancy rather than necessity or desire to succeed. Princess Azula is also weak in defensive tactics. She will not be able to protect her companions, and if they perceive she has abandoned them they will retreat or surrender."

"We'll need to separate and isolate them," he says. "What about the Dai Li? Why haven't they acted against the Princess already?"

"We believe Long Feng is still in control of them," Katara says. "We think it's possible that he's waiting for a way to use her to be freed and seize power again."

"That's likely," he says, stroking his beard. "I never liked him much, but he's always been a shrewd man. We'll have to cast him out of the city, separate him from the Dai Li. They're the only unknown right now, but it's not like they're the only master earthbenders in town."

"We should get moving," another general says. "We've sent for most of the guard to meet us at the palace using different paths. We don't want to give ourselves away."

"Might I suggest then," Iroh says diplomatically, "If you all will be going in as a frontal assault, Master Katara, my nephew, and myself enter the palace through another means? We may not be able to perform a true pincer maneuver, but we may be able to catch the princess unaware if she suspects a guard has discovered her and not us."

"Only if Master Katara leads the attack," the general says.

"I can do it," she assures him. She might not be able to take on both Zuko and Iroh on her own, but they seem committed to defeating Azula. If they abandon them and flee, though, it might not be the worst thing to happen. They've already delivered useful information, and Katara won't have to watch over them during battle.

"And the dual dao?" Zuko asks.

"Here," one of the general says, taking a pair from of his own belt and holding them out to Zuko. "I use them for decoration, but they are fully functional and sharp. Use them well."

"I will, thank you," he says, accepting the weapons and bowing deeply to the general like he had to Katara earlier.

"Let's go," General How commands, striding towards the door.

Katara takes the lead out of the military headquarters. "Do you actually know how to use those?" she asks Zuko when they're well away from the guards and generals.

He looks at her with surprise, but she thinks it's a reasonable question. Firebenders never use weapons. "The Avatar didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"He freed the Avatar's bison with just dao," Iroh says. "My nephew studied under Master Piandao as a child. He would not have been allowed to carry a weapon without the necessary skills to use it properly."

"Not everyone knows who your friends are, Uncle," Zuko says.

"Surely she has heard of such a renowned swordmaster," he counters.

"You know what other benders are like," he says rolling his eyes.

Iroh shakes his head. "It is not the point. Nephew, Master Katara, it is important that you understand Lee's bending may not be as it was."

Katara turns to Zuko, but he's only frowning in confusion. She asks, "What do you mean?"

"My chi is fine. What would be wrong with my bending?"

"Your recent transformation may have caused it to weaken," he says. "Your drive fuels your spirit and you have recently given up what has driven you for the past three years. Your flames may be weakened by that change."

"That's just perfect," he says, shaking his head. "We don't have time to wait for me to recover. The dao will have to do."

"Azula will be unfamiliar with such weapons as well," Iroh adds. "There is still a silver lining."

"That's because she's useless with any weapons," Zuko says, rolling his eyes. "Not that she needs them."

"Any weakness is still a weakness. It is always better to know more than your enemies," Iroh says. "In this instance, their superior specialization will be their downfall against our broader skill set. Though, perhaps if the generals perform better than expected we may still keep our firebending secret. It would certainly make things afterwards easier."

"What good would that do?" Zuko asks. "Azula would expose us to turn our allies against us."

Iroh sighs. "Perhaps we were too quick to abandon your mask."

Katara opens her mouth to ask because she's never seen Zuko in a mask, but he speaks before she can get her words out.

"No, it's fine where we've left it. Besides, it wouldn't help you any."

Iroh smiles, beaming at his nephew though Zuko doesn't seem to notice, completely focused on the palace wall ahead of them. Katara follows his gaze and notices the guard is missing from his post. "I think the generals have arrived already."

"Quickly then," Iroh says, picking up his pace and moving faster than Katara had expected him to be able to.

Zuko settles into position beside Katara with both of them before Iroh. Katara is surprised to find it more comfortable to have him at her side now than it had been the first time they had gone into the palace. Perhaps the saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend was true after all.

Zuko begins to take off his outer robe as they move, casting it onto the ground between the palace wall and the kitchen. Katara catches sight of his bare arms and wonders if he had always been so lean. Somehow, she doubts it for how could he have worn his armor without some additional weight?

This time when they enter the kitchen, they find it empty. The cooking staff had abandoned their posts just as the guard had. Katara could feel a tremor in the foundation of the palace. "I don't think the Dai Li stayed neutral."

"But we don't know what side they've picked," Zuko says.

"We should proceed with caution," Iroh adds, "Surprise will work just as well on the Dai Li as it will on Azula."

"Should we take the same passageway to get to the throne room?" she asks Zuko.

"Yes, it's probably the fastest way to the throne room from here."

"Okay," she says, and she almost says something about him taking the lead. Then she realizes it might be better to have both firebenders in front of her and motions for Iroh to follow Zuko.

Iroh must trust her or not consider her a threat because he goes in front of her without hesitation. Zuko finds the door they had left from early and pulls it open. "This way," he tells his uncle.

Katara follows the two men into the passageway, and she finds it just as creepy as she had going out. It's almost worse knowing that they're headed into the heart of the palace. The tremors get stronger the farther they go, and Zuko picks up the pace. Katara relaxes momentarily when Zuko finally opens the little door into the dining room again and there's sunlight again.

"Is it alright if I lead?" Zuko asks.

"I think it best," Iroh says. "Water is not so offensively strong as going in blades first. I will be of less help though if we are avoiding firebending."

"What if the Master and I go first, and you follow a few minutes after?" he asks. "Fire isn't so effective against stone anyways and you can watch our backs."

"That plan's fine, let's go," Katara says, impatient to get moving and see what's going on.

"Go," Iroh says, and Zuko is off running. Katara chases after him and reminds herself that she should be protecting his back for now.

They are halfway down the hall when Zuko says, "Footsteps."

Katara uncorks her water skin, but Zuko doesn't unsheath his swords, just keeps running towards whoever is coming towards them. A girl in Kyoshi garb comes running into the hallway, and this time she's close enough for Katara to tell that she's not from Kyoshi. She's one of Azula's Fire Nation friends.

"Zuko," the girl says in shock, stopping almost mid stride.

Zuko says nothing and doesn't stop. He delivers a solid punch to the girl's torso before she recovers from the shock. Katara hears the breath leave her lungs. Zuko grabs one of her wrists and twists it behind her back, far enough that it looks like it hurts. The girl makes a pained noise in between her gasps for breath. "Where's Azula?"

Katara stops in front of the girl and she looks on the verge of tears.

"I don't know, I swear," she says, and her voice is softer and higher than Katara remembers. "She said to scatter when the generals said they were going to arrest her. I think she's hoping the Dai Li will crush them because they said they were going to get their leader guy, Long Feng, too."

Katara looks to Zuko to see if he can tell if she's telling the truth. He gives her a nod.

"Sorry, Ty Lee," he says then delivers a quick blow to her head, and Katara gasps. "We can't tie her up. She can dislocate her wrists and shoulders to escape."

It feels terribly mean, but what else could they do?

Zuko leans her unconscious body against the wall so she's not just sprawled in the middle of the hallway. "We need to find Azula. We can let the Dai Li and generals battle it out among themselves."

"Where do you think she'd go?"

"Not far enough from the action. She'll want to know what's happening."

"So let's search the surrounding rooms," she says, and Zuko nods.

They start opening doors. Zuko opens one, looks in, then shuts it and shakes his head. Katara opens the next, sees an opulent but entirely still and empty room, and shuts it as well. On they continue down the hall, one room after another until the only door left is the throne room and the rumbling earthbending occurring within.

"We'll have to cross the throne room," Zuko says. "I'm sure Azula is in the other wing. She won't leave without knowing the outcome."

"And how do we do that without getting accidentally crushed?" she asks, already pulling her water out for defensive use.

Zuko shrugs. "Run fast."

Katara doesn't have any better ideas that don't include Toph. Zuko sets himself up against the throne room door and looks at her.

"Go," Katara says, and Zuko pushes open the door.

He bolts through the door, and Katara follows right on his heels. The throne room is unrecognizable, the jade and marble splintered and warped from all the earthbending. Katara comes to a short stop as a rock flies in front of her, nearly taking off her head. Zuko stumbles as one of the Dai Li shifts the flooring to shove a general into the waiting attack of another agent. It is a lot of dodging and some mad scrambling over abandoned boulders to get across the throne room without any broken bones.

Katara is less than a foot from the door when a wall of stone slides up to cover it. She turns to see a Dai Li agent with his arms raised. Before either of them can move, Zuko jumps off a nearby boulder and smashes his elbow into the agent's head. The agent drops to the ground.

"Now how do we get the wall down?" she asks.

"I don't know," he says, joining her in front of the walled off door. "How thick is it?"

"Thick enough."

"Duck!" one of the generals' aids shouts at them. They leap out of the way as he bends a boulder through the wall and the door behind it. "Go!"

Katara examines the hole as she tucks her water back into her waterskin. They are probably going to get splinters, but it's big enough for them to fit through.

"No time for finesse," Zuko says as he looks at the damage dealt.

"You first."

"What? Not ladies first?" he asks as he's already boosting himself into the hold.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" she asks because Zuko was definitely the sort of person to be wound too tight to ever crack a joke. This is also absolutely not the time for one.

Zuko doesn't answer as he drops down on the other side of the hole. "Be careful of the splinters."

"I got it," she says, checking with her hands before climbing through the hole.

"Ready?" he asks once she's dropped down to the other side.

"Yes, let's go," she says, pulling her water out again.

He takes the lead again and opens the first door. Instead of coming back out again, he shoves the door open wider and draws his swords. Katara enters the room, and Azula is right where Zuko said she'd be, in a room near the action. She stands next to the wall that's shared with the throne room so they'd likely interrupted her eavesdropping.

"I didn't expect to see you here, brother," she says condescendingly and adding extra emphasis to 'brother'. "And you've brought a little friend, too."

Zuko doesn't answer her and brings his swords into a defensive stance. Katara prepares her water. Azula strikes first with a punch of flames. Zuko jumps in front of the fire and bends the flames away. Katara hits back with a water whip, but Azula knocks it away with a little heat.

"What a pair you make," she says, studying them as she carefully maneuvers her way to the open space in the room.

Katara doesn't have enough water to trap her against the wall. Zuko follows her, but doesn't attack, likely taking his uncle's words to heart about his bending. It might be two on one, but Azula controls the space.

She launches another volley of flames. Zuko redirects or dissipates the flames, and Katara strikes back, trying to knock Azula off balance. As Azula deals with her water, Zuko rushes forward with his swords.

He's quick and has more reach, but Azula twists and weaves away from his strikes. While Azula's focus is on Zuko, Katara runs around behind her, searching for the moment to strike.

Azula finishes a kick, coiling back into herself with her feet back below her shoulders and her arms defensively in tight. Katara freezes her feet to the floor. Azula holds her hands out for balance. Zuko slashes at her arms.

Any thought Katara had of Zuko holding back against his sister disappears as she hears the cracking of Azula's armor under his blades. Blood splatters onto the floor, but also back onto Zuko. Azula shrieks, and Katara can't tell if it's with rage or with pain. She brings her arms around in front if her, and Katara can't see how bad it is.

Azula falls in a dead faint, and Zuko drops his swords to catch her. Katara unfreezes her feet and puts her water back into its skin. Zuko lowers Azula to the ground and asks, "Can you heal her?"

"Let me see," she says, helping him roll her onto her back. She then starts pulling the cracked vambraces off. With the armor gone, she can tell that it wasn't just the vambraces that had cracked. The bone had been exposed from the cut, and it was clearly broken as well.

"It's not good," she tells him, looking up. She's surprised to see him cradling his sister's head in his lap. It's weird to see him caring for her when he'd just sliced her arms open. When he'd never seemed to have an ounce of caring in him.

He nods. "What can you do?"

"Keep her from bleeding out," she says as she draws on her water. "I can fix some of this, but I'm not sure her hands will be completely fine after this."

He says nothing for a moment then quietly says, "It's probably for the best."

Katara stares at him for a moment, wondering what sort of person thinks that their sister being potentially crippled is for the best? Then she turns to Azula's arms because she's not exactly heartbroken over her losing some dexterity in her hands. She would still be able to bend.

She works quickly with the blood, knitting together the vessels in both arms to keep her from bleeding out slowly. Then, she focuses on the arm nearest her to deal with the larger issues. She's nearly done with it when the door creaks open. She has the water back in her hands forming ice daggers before she looks up and sees Iroh. She relaxes and returns to Azula's arm, leaving Zuko to explain.

Iroh moves to sit beside Zuko and says, "I ran into Mai on my way over here. We had quite the battle in the corridor. I used a little bending, but no one was around to notice. I tied her up and gagged her. Then I found Ty Lee unconscious but unbound so I had to tie her up as well."

"She can escape any ropes, Uncle," Zuko says, sounding tired.

"Perhaps she may, but better to at least try," Iroh says with a shrug. "The generals are arresting the last of the Dai Li. They had to send the guards for something to bind them with other than earth. We have done well today. How is Azula?"

"She'll have to wear splints for a few weeks once I've finished, but she's fine otherwise," Katara says, moving around to her other side to deal with her other arm.

"We should be less worried about what she'll do as with what she'll say," Zuko says. "She won't stay unconscious forever."

Iroh sighs. "I know. This puts us in a very difficult position. We need Azula captured as much as the Earth Kingdom does so we have to give her to the generals as a prisoner of war. Once caught, though, she can expose us to the generals and then we'll be prisoners right along with her. Even if we tell them she's a liar, we won't stop looking like ourselves."

"We would have to leave before she wakes up, but we don't exactly have anywhere to go," Zuko says.

Katara would prefer it if they left, but she feels guilty for saying that after how they've helped. Zuko might have been a huge pain in the ass before this, but he and his uncle had just proven themselves worthy allies. She would hope the generals would feel the same, but she doesn't doubt Iroh. The generals would make them prisoners even though the Fire Lord said they were traitors and they'd helped to defeat Azula. "There has to be other options," she says.

"Of where to go?" Zuko asks. "Ba Sing Se is it."

"I don't believe that is what she meant, nephew," Iroh says. "I believe she means other options for getting out of this conundrum."

Katara nods, taking a break from healing to stretch her hands as Azula is well out of any danger. "However temporary this truce may be, I can't say you weren't helpful. Also, I have questions, a lot of them, and I can't ask them if you leave."

Zuko opens his mouth to respond, but Azula stirs, twisting her head in his lap.

"Hold her," Katara says, putting her water over her forehead as Zuko holds her head still. "I can put her to sleep, but that also won't last forever."

"If you have any ideas, I'm open to them," Zuko says.

"Is there anything we can do to stop her from talking?" she asks.

"Short of cutting out her tongue?" Zuko asks. "We also have Mai and Ty Lee to take care of."

"Azula will have very little to lose once she's in custody," Iroh says. "There isn't anything we could do to keep her quiet."

"Okay, so I know you said calling her a liar wouldn't work," Katara says. "But is there any way to get the generals from listening to her?"

"No, they'll want information from her. She may not be allowed in war meetings, but she knows more than the average soldier, and more importantly, she knows my brother," Iroh says.

"What if we told them the truth before she can?" Katara asks.

"No!" Zuko snaps instantaneously.

"Master Katara, what my nephew means to say is that such a course of action would only put you in danger with us, honorable though it may be," Iroh says, and he looks worried. "You vouched for us to the generals. If we tell them the truth, you would be our accomplice. I don't know the generals well enough to say exactly what your punishment would be, but you could be deemed a traitor regardless of our success or the necessity of our mission."

"There has to be a way," Katara says as she returns to healing Azula's arm. "Why did you even come if you knew this might happen?"

"She would have come for us anyways. Whether or not we defeated Azula there are only two outcomes: run or be imprisoned. At least it wouldn't be Azula imprisoning us if we came," Zuko says.

"Gives very little reason to not do it," Iroh adds. "Among other reasons to do it beyond the impact it has on us personally. I had considered the consequences of coming, but I can only solve one problem at a time."

Katara sighs as she finishes with healing, sitting back and wiping sweat from her forehead. "I don't see what option we have aside from telling the truth. I know the generals, and they know me. There has to be a way to spin this so we don't all end up in prison."

Zuko tilts his head. "Maybe, if we don't hand over Azula first. We'd have to keep her out of their sight so they don't just take her from us, and Master Katara would need to do the talking. It would give them reason to listen, give us some leverage."

Iroh makes a noise of consideration and runs his hand over his beard. "Perhaps. We could say the subterfuge was due to the timing, and the necessity of quick action and say we'll hand over Azula as an act of goodwill."

"And we technically didn't lie aside from your names," Katara adds, "They could have vetted you more thoroughly so they can't say the timing wasn't important or that your help wasn't valuable. If they trusted me before, perhaps they'd trust me now."

"One of us should go with Master Katara," Zuko says. "Then the other will stay and guard Azula."

Iroh looks down at Azula. "A difficult choice to be sure, but I think it must be you, Nephew. I think we can agree that I am the better orator, but you will not offend the generals as greatly as I will. You as a young man and the son rather than brother of the Fire Lord would also be the more valuable piece to sway to their side."

"You would have me name myself traitor?" Zuko asks, tone sharp.

"You have already been named a traitor. It would be wise to have Earth Kingdom generals as allies now that you have bested Azula. You certainly don't have any Fire Nation generals aside from me on your side."

"You're right," Zuko admits quietly, and Katara feels she has missed something though she has been planning alongside them. "At your leave, Master Katara."

"I've done as much as I can with her arms," she says, pulling the water away from Azula and back to her waterskin.

"Then go," Iroh says, "Before Azula wakes, and we have more trouble on our hands."

Zuko carefully extracts himself from underneath Azula and gently sets her head on the ground. Katara leads the way out of the room, and she feels suddenly lost and full of doubt outside of the secrecy of the closed off room.

"Do you know what to say?" Zuko asks as they walk back towards the throne room.

"Not really," she says, her throat feeling tight.

He looks at her like she's hopeless. "Just be as polite as you can because there's not any time to teach you the formalities."

"Thanks," she says dryly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful for what you are doing for my uncle and I, but we'll be walking on a razor's edge and your words will decide what side we land on. You weren't raised in court. It's not an insult, merely a fact."

"I'm the daughter of a chief. I do know a little about formality," she argues even though her memories of the last formal functions in the South are hazy. She certainly wasn't formal in the North, acting predominantly as an upstart.

Zuko makes a choking noise. "And you let me call you a peasant?"

She gives him a weird look. "I thought that was just what you called water tribesmen."

"It's what we call those without titles, land, and family ties who work for the noble houses."

"Oh," she says, but it really doesn't give her any clearer of a sense of the word. The Water Tribe doesn't have noble houses.

Thankfully, they don't have to go back through the giant hole in the door as someone had taken down the earthen wall that had blocked them initially.

"Master Katara," General How says, spotting them as they enter the room. "Were you unsuccessful in capturing the Princess?"

Katara glaces at Zuko and he nods. "No, but there is something we must discuss first."

General How frowns and shifts his weight into more defensive posturing. His tone is icy when he asks, "What is there to discuss?"

Katara takes a deep breath and says, "Forgive us, but the timing made some level of deception necessary. We needed your support quickly in order to succeed in defeating the princess, and we have."

The other generals and their aids were certainly paying attention now even as they had to guard the conscious members of the Dai Li. How clenches his fists, but keeps a tight rein on his anger. "What deception, Master Katara?"

"The men I brought before you today are not named Mushi and Lee. They have the knowledge necessary for us to succeed today against the Fire Nation Princess because they are members of the royal family. Mushi is General Iroh, the Dragon of the West. Lee is Crown Prince Zuko."

Gasps burst out among the generals and even the Dai Li. They say nothing, deferring to How. General How looks fit to pop a blood vessel. "You brought relatives of the Fire Lord into the Palace?"

"Princess Azula was already inside it. We had no choice if we wanted to defeat her," Katara insists. She feels whatever control she had of the situation slipping from her grasp.

"General How," Zuko says, stepping forward. "You are aware that my father has declared us traitors, are you not? My Uncle and I are willing to offer you Princess Azula as a political prisoner as an offer of goodwill. We have been successful thus far in our alliance. We ask only that you do not spoil it."

Then, Zuko removed the dual dao from his belt. He bows, even more deeply than he had to Katara, and offers the weapons to General How. How studies him in complete silence. He glances at Katara, and she looks at him fiercely. She never once thought she would defend Zuko in such a manner, but she'd already thrown her lot in with his to defeat a greater enemy. Her heart pounds in her chest with how desperate she is for General How to forgive their initial deception.

"Very well," General How says taking the dao from Zuko. He hold them out and the general who had given them to Zuko rushes to take them back. "I'll see that you're made a ward of the Earth King after we have Princess Azula safely in custody and overlook however it is you and your uncle got into the city in light of your actions today."

"Thank you," Zuko says, straightening from his bow.

"As for you," General How says, turning to Katara. "Do not lie to me again. I don't care what privileges you think being the Avatar's master provides you, but I cannot abide liars."

Katara nods, swallowing down her fear. "Understood. Princess Azula is in the first room on the left down that hall being guarded by General Iroh."

General How sends the aids to capture the Princess and returns his attention to the Dai Li as palace guards return with iron shackles. Katara slumps now that the tension is finally gone and over with.

"That went far better than I expected it to," Zuko says, taking a seat on a boulder that had yet to be cleared away. "Meeting your father should go even better then."

"What does my father have to do with any of this?" she asks.

"Even if you didn't intend it, you just made me the ward of the Earth King," he says as if it was obvious, which it was, but not in whatever way he meant it. "It would be better to also have the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe's support. Chief Arnook's as well if he cares about the goings on beyond his borders at all."

"Support for what?"

"To make me Fire Lord instead of Azula," he says, giving her a look like she was painfully missing the point. "You've basically made yourself my kingmaker."

Katara stares at him and thankfully the generals' aids return with Azula and she doesn't have to come up with an answer for him.

* * *

I think Katara could arguably be called Zuko's kingmaker in the series considering she bested Azula in his stead. I made it more of a joint battle here because it isn't an agni kai or for the throne.

Gonna try not to say what will come up for discussion in the third chapter, but I basically pulled from European history where foreign royals support certain heirs for political/religious reasons like with the Jacobites in the 18th century with France wanting a Catholic king in England (and it doesn't hurt that the two royals were related). The Avatar would be like the Pope in this analogy wanting a 'Catholic' king (one who believes in world balance) instead of a protestant one (one who doesn't give a shit about world balance). I picked this because it aligns with the show's plan which was always to commit a coup against Ozai and defeat him and replace him to end the war rather than defeating the Fire Nation itself. This is just like the more politically savvy way of doing it where instead of basically a group of kids put a kid on the throne they get a bunch of adults with authority to back the kid they want to put on the throne. They just didn't do that because atla is a kids show and adults just get in the way in those yknow.


	3. Making Peace

This was a lot harder to get out than I thought it was going to be. Anyways, have some headcanons with your plot.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Sokka says, holding up his hands. "Azula snuck into the palace which you only realized because you found Zuko on accident in the Upper Ring, somehow, and then you had to go to the generals to defeat Azula, and then you somehow made Zuko the Earth King's ward and now he has to be introduced to court which is why you called us all back here?"

Katara feels exhausted just from that explanation, and she had done most of that in one day. "Yeah, that's the short version."

"How did any of this happen?" Aang asks as Sokka runs his hands over his face while his brain tries to process. "We've been running from Zuko for so long."

"You guys weren't here," Katara says helplessly. "I couldn't take on Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee on my own, and Zuko and his uncle were there and willing. What else could I do?"

"I'm amazed you got the generals to go along with it," Toph says. "None of the generals have seemed to like us so far, and I think they'd want to work with some Fire Nation guys even less."

"Yeah, well, we kind of lied to them, and they were pretty helpful about planning the invasion while you guys were gone though."

"You lied to the generals?" Aang asks, shocked. Even Sokka and Toph look surprised though she doesn't know if it's because they don't think she could have done or because they think the generals would see through any lies.

"And let them kill Zuko and General Iroh right away? We needed their help, and no, the generals are not happy about it either."

"More importantly, you got Zuko to agree to talk with us, right?" Sokka asks. "We need to know his angle in all this."

"I did and I agree, just try to be polite about it," Katara says. "It's really weird, but he's a lot more helpful on our side than against us. Remember, he did free Appa and stop Azula from taking Ba Sing Se."

"Which I do appreciate," Aang adds in. "I think being nice to him is the right move."

"Fine, fine, I'll be nice," Sokka says, waving them off. "Where is he anyways?"

"Getting fitted for formal robes," Katara says, "We're nearly there."

"Ugh," Toph complains, brushing her bangs aside. "I hated having to just stand there for hours for something I couldn't even see."

"Yeah, they tried to make me wear a formal dress in the Earth Kingdom style, but I told them it was more appropriate to dress as a water tribesman."

"You don't have any formal wear, though," Sokka points out. "Not that you could wear it now that it's almost summer here."

Katara shrugs and pushes the door open to the rooms Zuko had been given as the King's ward. Zuko stands in the middle of the room with a man fussing with the hem of the pale green surcoat he has to wear for his introduction. Another man and woman wearing clothes Katara was quickly learning meant that they were above servants, but not nobles stood next to a couch covered in hats and headdresses and hair pieces.

"I'm not wearing any stupid hats," Zuko says, back to sounding like his usual surly self.

"It's not stupid," the woman says holding up a hat which Katara thinks looks pretty dumb.

"You have no hair! It's inappropriate!" the man says. "We have to cover it."

"I know that. That's why I cut it off in the first place," Zuko says.

"You are not in disgrace here," the woman says, setting aside the hat. "At least reconsider wearing a hair piece."

"No," Zuko insists.

"Can't you just style it?" Katara asks because that's what they plan on doing with her hair for the introduction. Plenty of men wore their hair long in the Water Tribe, but short hair wasn't shameful. Zuko's was nearly long enough for a wolf tail anyways. "It's not like he's bald."

The tailor as well as the hair stylists turn to her and quickly bow.

"Master Katara," the tailor says. "I know you asked not to have a dress made in the Earth Kingdom style for you, but I have prepared a formal surcoat for the introduction. We did our best to match the colors of your dress, and I hope we haven't overstepped our bounds."

Katara wants to say no, that it isn't right if it wasn't made of leather and fur, but she catches Zuko's eyes over the shoulder of the tailor. He mouths 'wear it' to her.

"You haven't," she says, doing her best to approximate the right bow to the tailor. "I'll be happy to wear it."

"Thank you, you do us a great honor by wearing our clothes," the tailor says then turns to Zuko. "You may remove the surcoat, Prince Zuko."

Zuko nods and carefully pulls off the surcoat, leaving him in a red-brown chaofu robe and pants. The tailor folds the surcoat and turns to Aang. "Avatar Aang, will you be in need of formal clothing for Prince Zuko's introduction to court?"

Aang looks down at himself then back to the tailor. "Formal airbender clothing or formal Earth Kingdom clothing? I have a set of more formal monk robes I can wear."

"That will be suitable," the tailor says then bows again. "If you will excuse me."

The group parts to let the tailor pass.

"Where did you get formal robes from?" Katara asks Aang quietly.

"I found a set at the Eastern Air Temple. I thought I might need them given your message," he answers.

"Master Katara," the male hairstylist says in a cajoling tone. "You have agreed to have your hair styled for the introduction. Perhaps you can inform Prince Zuko of the necessity of appearing at his best for such a function."

Both hairstylists glare at Zuko, and Zuko glares back. Katara doesn't see the problem.

"What's the big deal about his hair?" Sokka says. "It's just hair."

"Oh, Snoozles," Toph says pityingly.

"The most appropriate style for men in Ba Sing Se is to have long hair in a braid," the hair stylist says, pulling his braid over his shoulder to demonstrate. "Hair is only cut in protest. It would not do for Prince Zuko to suggest that he is in protest when he has just been made the King's ward."

"Not in the Fire Nation. Hair is cut as a mark of shame, and it cannot be hidden until it grows out again," Zuko argues.

"This is why the monks shaved their heads," Aang says. "There's too much attached to hair, better to have it gone."

"Well, what's General Iroh going to do?" Katara asks.

"He's not coming. He weaseled his way out of it saying it wasn't appropriate for the Dragon of the West to appear in the Earth King's court so he's talking to the generals now instead," Zuko explains, crossing his arms.

"Oh," she says.

"Prince Zuko, there must be a middle ground we can come to," the female hairstylist says. "I know you feel strongly about Fire Nation traditions, but right now we are in Ba Sing Se. Your introduction to the court is for you to put your best foot forward to the Earth Kingdom nobility. It will only be for one night."

Katara glares at him, willing him to accept. If he can tell her to wear a blue Earth Kingdom coat, she can tell him to wear a stupid hat. He glances between her and the hairstylists. "Fine," he says with a sigh.

"Excellent," the male hairstylist says, clapping his hands together.

"But it's going to be just a hair piece and only in a ponytail. Not a braid, not a top knot, just a ponytail," he says.

"Understood," he says, "Now we just need a color match."

"We can sew it in tomorrow," the female hairstylist says.

"They're gonna put someone else's hair in your hair?" Sokka asks, making a face.

"It's not that uncommon," Toph says with a shrug. "A lot of my mom's hair is fake. Women often need some extra to do the popular styles.

"I won't need to do that, will I?" Katara asks. She had had enough hair for when she and Toph snuck into the palace, but the hairstylists could choose to do something else.

"No, you have enough hair for what we need," the female stylist says as she compares two different hanks of hair against Zuko's head. "I think this is best."

"You're right," the male hairstylist agrees. "Thank you for your cooperation Prince Zuko."

"Sure, whatever you need," Zuko says sarcastically.

The hairstylists ignore him in favor of packing up all their supplies. The group shuffles out of their way as they exit. Zuko sighs, stretching out his arms.

"Someone should be coming by with food soon enough. I'm not allowed to publicly eat until my introduction," he says. "Otherwise, make yourselves comfortable."

"Sweet," Toph says, taking a seat and setting her feet onto the table.

"I'm guessing you're Toph," Zuko says, eyeing her feet.

"Toph Bei Fong," she says. "Pleased to meet your princeliness. I've heard a lot about you, most of it not good."

"I didn't know the Bei Fongs had a daughter."

"You know the Bei Fongs?" Aang asks.

"All rich people know each other," Toph says. "And yeah, my parents didn't like me to go out much given that I'm blind."

"Ah," Zuko says, obviously stalling on what to say to that.

"Enough! This isn't about the Bei Fongs," Sokka says, moving to stand between Zuko and Toph. "What's your angle, Zuko?"

"Angle?" he asks, "On what?"

"Becoming the King's ward. Is this just to get close to him and do a sneak attack, huh? Is that how you plan to conquer the Earth Kingdom?" Sokka asks, leaning towards Zuko and squinting at him.

"What? No. I didn't ask to be made a ward. Your sister did that," he says, glaring at Sokka.

"Still doesn't answer the question," Sokka argues. "What are you scheming against the King in that little Fire Nation brain of yours?"

Zuko looks over to Katara. "Did you seriously not explain anything to him?"

Katara shrugs. "Honestly, I don't know how the whole ward thing works. We don't have them in the Water Tribes."

"Wards are just kids you look after, right?" Aang asks, settling down beside Toph. "Most monks and nuns had one to three wards to look after."

"Technically, yes, but that's not how it is for nobles and royalty," Zuko says. "At least, in the Fire Nation, warding children became a way of fostering relationships between noble families after the Warring States period. You were less likely to attack anyone if you knew they had your children. Warding a child could also be a form of punishing a family, and that's usually the only way a child of the imperial family could become the ward of another Fire Nation family; if the Fire Lord acted against the wishes of the nobles."

"And what does it mean if you're the ward of the Earth King?" Sokka asks.

"Traditionally, it would be temporary and for me to learn about the Earth Kingdom," Zuko answers. "In this instance, however, I think it's meant to be permanent. I'm certain General How made me a ward to the King so he could keep me under watch at the palace and to make me beholden to the Earth King should they succeed in a coup against my father. I would owe them for looking out for me after being named a traitor."

"That's smart," Sokka says, and it's probably the nicest thing he's said about any Earth Kingdom generals.

"That's missing the point, though," Aang says, throwing his hands up. "We're supposed to restore balance. It won't help if we just make the Fire Nation like the Earth Kingdom."

"That's why Zuko wants the support of Dad and Chief Arnook," Katara says.

"Now we're getting Dad involved in this?" Sokka asks.

"Chief Hakoda and Chief Arnook would be able to mitigate the influence of the Earth Kingdom over me," Zuko explains. "That's just one of many reasons their support is necessary. It makes me a more legitimate heir to have support from all foreign powers prior to a coup. It would also make it safer for me to claim the throne if I can act like I'm playing the other leaders against each other instead of just being a puppet to one."

"Ha!" Sokka shouts and points an accusing finger at Zuko. "You do have an angle. You're going to go right back to your Fire Nation ways."

Zuko smacks his hand away. "I would not have risked my uncle to fight my sister if I wanted to go back to my old ways. I have given up chasing the Avatar, but I need more than just the Avatar and the Earth King's support if I want to keep the Fire Nation from falling into civil war."

"Sokka," Katara says, warningly.

"Just because you say you gave up chasing Aang doesn't mean you changed all of your ways," Sokka argues.

"What would you know of my ways?" Zuko snarls.

"Shut up, Sokka," Katara says, dragging him away from Zuko and forcing him to sit down next to Aang. "You said you were going to be polite."

Zuko scoffs. "He wouldn't know polite if it bit him in the ass."

"You're not exactly polite yourself," Sokka retorts, crossing his arms.

"I might be out of practice, but I can still choose to be. You just don't know how."

"It's like I told you guys," Toph says. "You never learned society manners."

"You don't need society manners to not intentionally set someone off," Katara says, staring down her brother.

"He wouldn't be set off if he didn't have anything to hide," Sokka argues.

"You're accusing me of treachery," Zuko says. "I'm not just going to take that lying down."

"I have a question," Aang says, interrupting the brewing argument. "Why were you so willing to fight your sister?"

Zuko gives him a look. "You've met her, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but you're her brother," he says and shrugs.

"And you think what? That she treats me better because of that? You saw what she did to my uncle."

"So why is she out for your guts then?" Sokka asks.

"Father sent her to return my uncle and me to the Fire Nation to be prisoners. He declared us traitors because he believes we were the reason the Siege of the North failed and for Zhao's demise."

"Zhao's dead?" Aang asks. "We thought he escaped back to the Fire Nation."

"No, he's definitely dead. La drowned him personally. I saw it happen."

"Who's Zhao?" Toph asks.

"One of my father's former pet admirals," Zuko says, crossing his arms. "He was bad enough to almost deserve getting killed by an angry spirit.

"So you weren't working together?" Sokka asks which Katara had been wondering as well.

Zuko stares at them. "No! I'd never work with a man like him. He had no honor. He shot fire at my back after losing to me in an Agni Kai. His life was forfeit to me then, but I chose to spare him even though he'd been needlessly antagonizing me since I'd been banished. He also tried to have me killed before his stupid Siege. What fool thinks he can kill Agni's twin and expect praise for it anyways? I'd have ended him if I'd known that was his plan."

"But you said you were named a traitor at that Siege where he died," Sokka says. "How could he have been bothering you before then?"

Zuko stares at him. "You're really dumb, aren't you?"

"I am not," he insists.

"Sometimes it doesn't seem like it," Toph says. "After all, you're probably the only person who doesn't know that Prince Zuko has been banished for the past three years. I heard my parents talking about it after it happened."

Katara stares at Zuko, reevaluating him. She had thought he'd been a proud and favored son sent on a quest to prove himself a warrior. It's what a Chief would have done were the Water Tribes what they once were, before the Fire Nation made the waters too dangerous. She'd thought he'd been like Azula, but thinking back over the siblings' differences, Azula is clearly the favored child.

"Hey, it's not like we get a whole lot of global news at the South Pole anymore," Sokka says.

"I was in an ice cube," Aang adds.

Zuko takes a seat on the couch opposite of the one they were all sitting on. "The terms of my banishment were that I could return if I captured the Avatar who no one had seen in almost a century. After being named traitor, I thought maybe if I proved myself if I brought you back before Azula did I might be able to go home. I gave it up even before Master Katara found me and we discovered Azula in the palace."

The group is silent for a moment. Katara can imagine how far she would go to prove she deserved to come home again. She's certain Aang can sympathize with his home desecrated, abandoned, and practically forgotten.

"Well that certainly explains your persistence," Sokka says. "What about your uncle? Was he banished too?"

"No, it was just safer for him to be away from court and my father's supporters. You don't have to worry about either of us harming the Earth King because we don't have anywhere to go back to."

"Fine," Sokka says, crossing his arms. "I will choose to believe you."

"How gracious of you," Zuko says sarcastically.

"Can I ask how you got into the city?" Katara asks. "And why the tea shop?"

"We entered the city as refugees, same as plenty of other people," he says with a shrug. "Then my uncle got us jobs as tea servers in the Lower Ring. My Uncle has expensive aristocratic taste which definitely showed in his tea. It got us the attention of a noblemen who offered him a shop in the Upper Ring. We had a...providential opening day."

"Providential?" Aang asks. "What do you mean?"

"It means that the day I got over casting off my old destiny and really embrace being a tea server in Ba Sing Se, Master Katara walks in and the destiny I thought I'd left behind had me by the throat," he says with a wry smile and shrugs. "I knew the spirits liked to mess with me and that I was blessed by La, but I had no idea how badly."

"How could you be blessed by La?" Sokka asks derisively.

Katara would maybe not have asked so antagonistically, but she was curious as to how a firebender could think he was blessed by La.

Zuko raises his brow and tilts his head. "In the Fire Nation, being blessed by La is a backhanded blessing. You'll have bad luck, but you'll never drown. You do know the Fire Nation is a bunch of islands and that I lived on a ship for three years. Also, La could have drowned me in the North Pole but he didn't."

Katara supposed it made a certain amount of sense. Sokka says, "Maybe La hasn't blessed you enough then."

"La's blessings are plenty bountiful," Zuko says. "I'm trying to not get myself killed which is why I want to meet the Water Tribe chiefs to begin with."

"We'll think about it," Sokka says, crossing his arms.

Katara rolls her eyes because she had already sent a message to her father asking him to come to Ba Sing Se and meet King Kuei and Zuko when he had the opportunity. Zuko catches her rolling her eyes and seems to find some amusement in it. Before she can say anything else though, the doors open and a few servants enter carrying platters of food.

"Thank you," Zuko says as the servants silently set down the platters on the table, bow, and leave.

"This doesn't look like Earth Kingdom food," Sokka says which of course is what he would notice.

"Nope," Zuko says, picking up one of the empty plates to use.

"It's Fire Nation food," Aang says. "There's even vegetarian dishes."

"Of course," Zuko says.

"Did you request this?" Katara asks, wondering how he knew to get some vegetarian dishes.

"Yes, I made friends with the chef," he says.

"When? You've been preparing for your introduction to court. How did you do it anyways? They don't want you leaving your chambers."

"I said Geneal How wanted me in the palace so I could be watched, but I never said that it would work," he says, smiling. "I get up at dawn anyways so I decided to take a trip to the kitchens to see if the chef might make food more to my liking."

"I can respect that," Toph says, smirking.

"Don't," Zuko starts, holding a hand out towards Sokka as her brother eats a piece of fish with some green paste on it.

Sokka chews for a moment then spits the whole thing out. "Hot, ugh, I need water."

Aang quickly pours him a glass and hands it over to him. Sokka chugs the whole thing. "What was that?" he asks.

"Wasabi," Zuko answers. "It's made from a root that only grows in the Fire Nation. I haven't been able to get it since being banished. You're not supposed to eat that much of it."

"Now you tell me," Sokka complains.

Katara avoids the wasabi as she picks out different foods to eat.

"So I have a question if we're done with the political stuff," Toph says around a mouthful of food.

"Shoot," Zuko says, and Katara notices that he uses wasabi sparingly, using it only between different dishes.

"How did you get Appa from the Dai Li?" she asks. "It took a whole group of us to get into Lake Laogai, and we weren't successful, but somehow you do it by yourself. You're not even an earthbender."

Zuko shrugs. "I captured one of the agents and made him open a path for me before knocking him out. Snuck around until I found the bison then let him go."

"You snuck around well trained earthbenders without alerting them?" she asks, frowning.

"It's not like they patrol their own hideout. They couldn't expect infiltration from a non-earthbender so they had no rounds or traps or anything. It wasn't that hard."

Katara stares at Zuko wondering how the hell they kept away from him if he thought Lake Laogai was easy to infiltrate. If he hadn't come at them fires blazing, he could have snuck off with Aang without any trouble. "Was the North Pole harder?" she asks.

Zuko considers it for a moment. "Mostly for the terrain. Everyone was busy with the Siege and no one expected me to be there like with the Dai Li."

"What did you do to get in though?" Sokka asks. "Your uncle came in with the main force and Zhao, but you didn't. You couldn't have scaled the wall with all the men posted."

"I know so I went under it," he answers. "I saw turtle seals and followed them in."

"That's insane," Katara says, shocked. "Seals can hold their breath for much longer than any human can. How did you not drown?"

Zuko shrugs like that wasn't a huge concern. "They still breathe though. I'm an excellent swimmer. Most Fire Nation children can swim by the time they walk, but firebenders are taught to dive to improve their breath control. Uncle made me do extra of it since my bending wasn't improving and we were traveling to Earth Kingdom diving sites anyways. I was more concerned with the cold than the water."

"I remember Kuzon saying something like that," Aang says, putting a hand to his chin. "Airbenders can use their bending to create an insulating layer against the cold, but I thought firebenders were susceptible to cold."

"It is if you don't know breath of fire. It's why Uncle is known as the Dragon of the West. He's probably the most skilled firebender at producing flames from the mouth. Larger ones for attacking, but smaller, short bursts are enough to keep your chi active and keep you from freezing."

"You still can't breathe underwater," Sokka says.

"I know, it was the cold water I was worried about, not the cold or water by itself. I did get trapped under the ice for a moment, but I was able to melt it and get free."

"I can't believe you're not dead," Katara says, genuinely amazed at his ability. Going through the ice at the poles is almost guaranteed death unless in a well known area for ice fishing, and he went beneath it willingly in unknown conditions.

"I know," he agrees as if it's a joke. "But Uncle wasn't lying when he said I was good at stealth. I wasn't too worried about being able to go undetected after making it in to either place. I've had a lot of practice with Fire Nation fortresses."

"Fortresses?" Sokka asks. "Why would you need to sneak into your own fortresses?"

"Admiralty doesn't need to report to banished princes. I needed to find out where the battles and sieges were to avoid conflict while on my quest. Uncle wasn't happy about it at first, but they were ignoring his requests as well."

"Wow, Sparky," Toph says. "You're a lot more impressive than everyone made you sound."

Zuko shrugs. "Thanks, I guess? It wasn't all that helpful beyond freeing the Avatar and the bison."

"What?" Katara asks. "When did you free Aang? You've been trying to capture him this whole time."

"Yeah, but Zhao got him first," he answers. "Where were you, by the way? I was surprised you weren't with him in Pohuai."

"We've never been to Pohuai," Sokka says.

Aang blushes. "I got captured by Zhao when you guys were sick after that big storm Sokka got lost in. Zuko had to bust me out. Well, I didn't know it was him at first. He didn't firebend, and he wore this crazy scary mask."

"Blue Spirit," Zuko corrects. "He's a spirit of tricksters."

The door to Zuko's chamber opens, revealing General Iroh. "I see that the Avatar has found you. I hope you have been treating him well."

"I got him vegetarian food," Zuko says. "I got wasabi, too. Make sure you get some before someone decides to eat it all."

"Hey," Sokka interjects.

"Wasabi?" Iroh asks, rushing over to the table to check for himself. "How did you manage that one, Nephew?"

"I made friends with the chef," he explains again as Iroh fixes his own plate with a healthy dose of wasabi set carefully on the side. "You apparently don't become the King's chef without having a few connections."

"I shall have to remember that in the future," Iroh says.

Katara focuses on eating as Iroh asks Zuko about his meetings with the tailor and hair stylist while Sokka tries to fight Toph over the food that looks the best. Aang does his best to avoid stray elbows from Sokka while he eats his food.

Eventually, Iroh clears his throat and they can all sense that they are back to business. "I apologize for interrupting our meal with talk of war, but I felt it best I inform you young folk of the debates I am having with the Earth Kingdom generals."

"What has been going on?" Sokka asks, back to full strategizing mode. "I haven't been able to talk to them since returning."

"They are insistent upon attacking on the day of the eclipse," Iroh says with a sigh. "I have come to understand that this is information and a battle strategy that your group has put forward. It is commendable that you have been able to find such information as the Fire Nation has gone to great lengths to sabotage knowledge of astrological calculations. Therein lies the weakness. The Fire Nation has known of the eclipse for decades. We have multiple failsafes planned for that day, and it helps that the eclipse only lasts for a few minutes."

"So, it's worth nothing?" Sokka asks, sounding more defeated than Katara has ever heard him.

Iroh and Zuko share a look, and Katara still hasn't spent enough time with them to determine what it means.

"It's not that it's worth nothing. I am merely pointing out that it is not an overwhelming boon. It might be the only opportunity anyways," Iroh says. "The Fire Nation may have fail safes, but I know of them for one thing. The other is a change in standard procedure regardless of how well planned can confuse foot soldiers and expose weak points that would normally not be there. It is when best to use it that the generals and I are in conflict over. They would prefer to use it at the beginning of an attack while I feel it would be best used at the end. After that there are a hundred other issues we argue over."

"Would it be possible for me to join you and the generals?" Sokka asks. "I know I have no experience and nothing to my name that would earn me such a place, but I would like to learn more."

Iroh smiles genially at her brother. "You have outrun and outmaneuvered both my nephew and my niece for several months. I would say that is some credit to you. Of course you may come."

Zuko looks at his uncle and then Sokka. "Just don't mouth off to anyone. I imagine a boulder to the face isn't anymore pleasant than a fistful of fire."

"Why would anybody do that?" Toph asks, frowning.

Zuko shrugs casually, but Iroh looks stricken. Katara can't figure out why, but she knows for certain that something is there. After all, Zuko is the only among them who has taken flames to the face.

"The generals in the Earth Kingdom do not settle matters of disrespect in duels," Iroh says after a momentary pause. "You have nothing to fear, young man."

Sokka looks between Zuko and Iroh. "I wasn't planning on disrespecting anyone."

"Then you don't have anything to worry about," Zuko says, taking more food for his plate.

Lunch ends quickly after that with Sokka eager to meet the generals. Iroh is thankfully amenable to Sokka's youthful impatience as he put it. Katara is glad to avoid the generals now that she's lost some favor with General How. Zuko watches them leave with an expression Katara can't parse.

"Alright Twinkle Toes," Toph says, standing up. "This is the best time we've got for earthbending practice with this shindig happening so let's get a move on."

"Yes, Sifu Toph," Aang says dutifully, using airbending to propel himself off the couch.

"I know just the spot," she says, smirking as she pulls open the door to the hallway.

After a moment of silence where Katara isn't quite sure what to do, Zuko says, "I thought she was blind."

"She is. She uses earthbending to see. Something about vibrations in the earth," she says and shrugs. "I got the explanation secondhand from Aang. It was rather brief."

He only makes a noise of vague interest. They fall silent. Katara doesn't know what to do or say to Zuko when there isn't some pressing mission hanging over them.

"Is there something else you need?" he asks, some sort of polite affectation to his tone.

"Not really, why? Do you need the room?" she asks, only half meaning it as a joke.

"Probably soon," he says. "They've decided to send me a tutor to teach me Earth Kingdom customs so I don't make a fool of them."

Katara rolls her eyes. "Does it really matter? They know you're Fire Nation and polite's polite."

"It does now that I'm the King's ward, and not a popular one. Not that I think King Kuei cares," Zuko makes a pained face. "I've never had a more awkward conversation with anyone. He couldn't seem to figure out what I was doing here even with his own generals explaining everything to him. I'm not sure he understands the machinations of everything going on."

"Well, he did only learn about the war like a week ago," Katara says.

"What? What do you mean he only learned about the war a week ago?" Zuko asks.

"That was Long Feng's whole conspiracy. He kept his power by keeping the King ignorant. We had to fly him around on Appa to prove it to him," she explains.

"That's insane," he says, putting his face in his hands. "I knew he was weak but if it goes that far he won't be much help legitimizing a coup. I don't think adding even the Avatar and the Water Tribe chiefs will be enough."

"How could they not be?" Katara asks. "I thought that's why we were bothering with being all polite and dressing up correctly."

"The politeness is just a means to an end, another way of doing politics. The Earth Kingdom court may not be as cut throat, but in the Fire Nation it can literally be life or death. I got this scar for speaking out of turn," he says, pointing viciously to the scar on his face. "We still need the King and the chiefs and the Avatar. We just need more."

"Okay, but who else is there to get?" she asks, focusing on the task at hand even if she feels like she needs just one more piece of information to complete the puzzle of Zuko's scar. "The only other King I know of is King Bumi, and he's a prisoner in Omashu."

Zuko glances aside like he's worried about someone overhearing. "It's not kings we need to convince, it's nobles. Fire Nation nobles to be exact. Military officials, civil servants, sages, even merchants if we're lucky."

"You really think any of them would stand up against Ozai?" she asks, disbelieving.

"Some of them already stand against him. You know how I told you Uncle is older than my father?"

"Yes," she says slowly, getting an idea of what he might say and not sure if she should believe it.

"It's earned my father the title Ozai the Usurper. Father banned it in court, but it's not like you can burn words. My Uncle was popular among the people, and his retreat at the Siege of Ba Sing Se wasn't enough to get rid of all that good will."

"I admit that that will probably help, but we're trying to put you on the throne," she says.

"I know," he says with a sigh, running his hand through his hair. "But it's well known that Uncle is my mentor. It's the best we can do because Uncle won't take the throne. He doesn't consider it his anymore, and he doesn't want it. I'm what we've got."

Katara takes a breath and lets it out. "We've gotten good at working with what we've got. Aang is only twelve."

"I know," he says, quietly. "It's ridiculous what we have to do."

They're interrupted by the door swinging open an a tall skinny man Katara doesn't recognize enters and bows to them. "Pardon me, I'm here to tutor Prince Zuko on Earth Kingdom custom. Will you be joining us Master Katara?"

"Nope," she says, getting up before anyone can rope her into it. "I need to check on Aang."

Zuko stands and tilts his head towards her. "Have a pleasant day, Master Katara."

"You too," Katara says as she heads for the door. She can tell it's impolite by the tutor's whole body flinch and Zuko's amusement.

Still, she gets her training with Aang in before nightfall. Toph is not impressed with Aang's slacking. Toph, Aang, and eventually Sokka, once he returns with Iroh, are all guided to their new rooms within the palace. Katara finds her own way back to the room she had been given. She finds the formal coat that had been made for her hanging in her room. She's surprised to find that it's blue brocade with water motifs.

She tries to wash her clothes so she can wear them at their cleanest for Zuko's introduction if she's to be his king maker, but a servant catches her at it. The servant bustles off to clean it for her and leaves her with pale green silk Earth Kingdom nightclothes to wear for the night.

The following afternoon has her back in Zuko's chambers in her own clothes with Zuko and Aang so they can get last minute tutoring on how not to embarrass themselves in court. Toph and Sokka both went General Iroh's route and skipped out on the lesson and the introductions. Katara hates them a little bit, but she can't abandon Aang or now Zuko. She and Zuko also have the hairstylists working on their hair which means they can't move to practice the bows and other gestures the tutor is trying to teach them. Aang gets the full brunt of the tutor's constructions, going over the same moves over and over again so they can see how Aang did it wrong and the right way to do it.

"This is so much harder than bending," Aang says as he's finally allowed to sit down.

"I don't think I'll be able to remember it all," Katara confesses.

"Quiet," the tutor hisses. "You'll need to know all the important people at tonight's event so listen closely."

He then begins listing nobles and how they're related to each other and the King and what their families are known for. He even has small portraits for some of them. It reminds her a little bit of keeping track of familial connections in her tribe, but the Southern tribe hasn't ever had so many people in her lifetime and she hadn't learned all the families in the North.

"How many people are supposed to be there?" Aang asks wearily.

"Anyone and everyone with any importance," the tutor says. "This is an important political moment for a few reasons. This is the first formal event since Long Feng has been deposed and King Kuei has stepped up. It's the first time a member of the Fire Nation has been named a ward in over a century. It's also heralding a new direction in the war and a triumph for the the generals here."

Katara feels a twinge of nerves hearing that. She really hadn't understood what she'd gotten herself into when she left the South Pole to help Aang. More and more she learns how many people are involved in this and how much rests upon them.

"There, finished," the hairstylist working on Katara's hair says. She offers Katara a small mirror.

"Thanks," she says, taking the mirror and looking at herself. She still doesn't think the Earth Kingdom hairstyle is all that great, but she can admit that it is far better done than when she and Toph had tried to style their hair on their own. "It's very well done."

"Thank you, Master Katara," the hairstylist says, taking back the mirror.

"I'm nearly finished as well, Prince Zuko," the other hairstylist says.

Katara can now move her head so she takes a look at him. She has no idea how, but the hairstylists had managed to attach an awful lot of black hair to his head. The stylist was in the process of gathering it up into a high ponytail. Zuko glances at her out of the corner of his eye, and she feels her cheeks heat and looks back to the tutor.

"Now you can practice the proper motions as well," the tutor says, and Katara tries not to groan in self-pity. She manages to do a better job than Aang, but the tutor still scowls and corrects her.

The stylist finishes with Zuko's hair, and Zuko rejects the mirror he offers him. Zuko stands, and Katara can't help staring at him. When she'd first seen him, he'd looked so severe with so much of his hair shaved away and nothing to blunt the harshness of his scar. The worst of the severity softened by his growing hair since the Siege of the North Pole and he'd looked almost normal. Now, he looked regal, and she didn't know what that said about him compared to the other chiefs and kings she'd met. Her father and Chief Arnook certainly had commanding presences, but they hardly differentiated themselves from their men. King Bumi and King Kuei certainly dressed like kings, but they didn't otherwise have very kingly presences, appearing more like a cooky old man and a scholar respectively. Even Long Feng blended in. Zuko, however, was striking.

Perhaps there was something to what the hairstylists had been saying about making an impression.

"Alright, Prince Zuko," the tutor says after dismissing the stylists. "Let's see if you've picked up anymore than these two."

He shows them up big time, performing every bow and gesture correctly on the first try. "Good," the tutor says. "There's hope for one of you."

Thankfully, it's then late enough that Katara and Aang can escape the tutor, but only to be shown back to their own chambers to finish getting ready. Katara has makeup and perfume put on her then her new formal coat. She looks mismatched in the mirror. The top half is very Earth Kingdom, but then her Water Tribe dress sticks out of the bottom bland and comparatively form fitting against the wider cut of the coat. One of the servants convince her to borrow a pair of Earth Kingdom shoes to wear instead of her boots, giving her a slight boost in height, but making her feet feel exposed.

She is then lead to the throne room to mingle with the guests prior to the King's arrival. Instead, she finds Aang in his formal robes in a back corner and that the servants had given him Earth Kingdom shoes as well.

"Why do I feel like they think we're not good enough?" Aang asks, sticking a foot out and wiggling his shoe.

"Because we dress for practicality rather than to show off?" she tries adjusting her robe and trying not to feel uncomfortable.

He sighs and shifts his robe back over his feet. "I'm too short for this robe. Tonight is gonna be miserable."

"We're just here for Zuko," she reminds him, and they both make a face at that.

"All of this is weird," Aang complains. "Nobody ever told me about this part of being an Avatar."

A horn sounds then a man formally announces the King to the court. Unlike the party they had snuck into, King Kuei doesn't arrive hidden in a palanquin. Instead, he walks out wearing his formal court clothes, different from his more every day wear in that there was more golden tones, more embroidery, and much richer materials, to stand at the front of the room on a dais.

The man announces Zuko after him as the new ward of the king. The court stays silent as he enters the room and moves to stand beside King Kuei. For a moment, everyone just kind of looks at them then King Kuei motions for Zuko to join the court and descend from the dais. King Kuei eventually follows him down and then the conversations finally began around the room.

"That went well," Aang says.

"That was the easy part," Katara says, and a couple of noblemen and their wives turn to them to ask the Avatar a few questions.

"I heard at your last court appearance you airbended, will you do so again?"

"How is your training proceeding?"

"What do you think of your time in Ba Sing Se?"

"Where all in the Earth Kingdom have you travelled?"

"You've visited the Bei Fong estate? They hardly ever entertain guests you must tell us how they are."

And so on while Aang did his best to answer politely and charmingly. Katara even received a few questions along those lines.

"What is it like to train the Avatar?"

"Who did you learn waterbending from?"

"What's the North Pole like? No one's been in decades."

Katara answers them accurately, but she feels uncertain on how politely she answers them. No one seems to be offended by her answer so she must be doing alright. Getting passed from person to person eventually draws her away from Aang, and she hopes he's doing alright on his own. She looks around for a familiar face and spots Zuko. He's not ideal, but at least he won't hound her like Earth Kingdom noblemen.

She makes her way over to him mostly by apologizing to everyone she walks past on her way there. He gives her a nod, but otherwise can't acknowledge her as the man in front of him is talking. She tunes into what he's saying and hears, "Surely, Prince Zuko, you must have realized you can not dodge the question forever. We of the Earth Kingdom may have abundant patience, but it is not limitless."

"I am aware," Zuko says flatly. "But I have not dodged the question. My only intention as the King's Ward is to do my part to end the war."

The man makes a face like he's smelled something unpleasant. "A platitude that I'm sure is from one of the Palace tutors. You would have done better learning from whoever it was that found the King's spine."

Katara stares at the man. Of course, no one in their group had great things to say about Kuei's weak political position inside of Ba Sing Se, but he wasn't entirely a cowardly man. He got rid of his closest advisor on the proof a group of kids who had attacked his palace had brought him. She knows not many adults would do that.

Zuko says, "It's only a platitude if I do not mean it."

The man barks out a harsh laugh. "You can mean it all you want if you can't actually do it. It's been going on for a hundred years for a reason, my boy. Though, I can't blame you for not succeeding where men much greater than yourself have failed."

Whatever political façade Zuko had been wearing is cracking which Katara isn't surprised by. "You think me incapable? I think you judge too quickly when this is the first you've met me."

"No, not incapable," the man says, beginning to look angry as well. "Misguided at best and foolish. I've heard what you've done, you and the boy Avatar. You've destroyed the political foundations of this city and hurt the entire Kingdom in the process. If you've done anything to end the war, what you've done is made it easier for the Fire Nation to win."

"I'm not sure what rumors you've heard, but we stopped a coup from occuring. Without us, the Earth Kingdom would have already fallen."

"And put a weakling into power in the process," he snarls, and a few people behind him nod.

Katara stares at him. "You would prefer Long Feng? He was keeping the city blind to the outside world. How can you expect to win a war like that?"

"He kept the city safe is what you mean," he retorts. "During his time as the head of the Dai Li he oversaw the most victories in Earth Kingdom territory in such a time period in decades. Why do you think the Fire Nation turned its attention to the North Pole, Master Waterbender?"

"And nearly lost Ba Sing Se entirely as well," she shoots back, a couple of the people around them gasp. "He lost Omashu, let the drill breach Ba Sing Se's, and Princess Azula sneak into the palace. Without us, would you even be here to scold us?"

The man turns red. "There are many cities like Omashu, many taken back from the Fire Nation than lost."

"By what right did Long Feng have to keep the King uniformed and from his duties and the experience he needed?" Zuko asks harshly. "Because he managed to leverage the Dai Li? I admit his cunning and leadership were admirable, but he betrayed his king and country. It is he who has made you weak now. If he had allowed King Kuei to lead as was his right, you wouldn't be in such a vulnerable position. Weakness can be grown out of if given the opportunity."

The man splutters, "What right? He - the right?"

Zuko turns to Katara as the man struggles to get words out through his fury and asks her, "Would you care for a drink?"

"Sure," she says because she is thirsty and because Zuko wants an out of the conversation. As they turn away, Katara can hear the man continue sputter and bad mouth Zuko and King Kuei. "What is that guy's problem?"

"Didn't you recognize him?" Zuko says, grabbing drinks from a passing waiter. He smells the drinks then passes one to her. "They're not alcoholic."

"Thanks," she says and takes a sip. It's juice from a fruit she doesn't recognize the taste of. "No, I didn't. Should I have?"

"The tutor showed us his portrait," Zuko says and frowns at his cup. "He's a nobleman who makes his money in creating weapons for the Earth Kingdom army. His problem is that he doesn't actually want the war to end, just for the Fire Nation to not win."

Katara snaps her head up. "But I thought-,"

"I know. We have many men like that in the Fire Nation court. The men and women who die aren't people to them, just numbers," he says and sighs. "That went horribly."

"Really?" Katara asks. "I thought he got what he deserved. He was wrong."

"But he has money and influence and we just pissed him off," he says, downing his drink. "We need to be convincing people to our side, not alienating them."

"But we were right, and we told them all the truth," she insists.

"Yes, we did, but that's not enough. Uncle is much better at this than me. He actually knows how to sway people."

"At least we have the king on our side," she offers.

Zuko gives her a flat look. "You're going to need some work, Kingmaker."

"Have all the questions you've been getting been like this?" she asks.

"Yes, and I don't have any good answers for any of them," he complains, putting his empty glass on the tray of another passing servant. "I don't...know enough, and you can't fight your way to victory here. This was never my strong suit."

"Will you be better with a Fire Nation audience, when we have to convince all those people you talked about?" she asks.

Zuko grimaces. "Probably not, but we don't have a choice."

She nods. They need to do more than just finish Ozai, but they're running out of time and don't have the skills for what they need to do. She glances up at Zuko, watching him gather himself up and place his political façade back on and is glad it's him and not Aang that has to do this, for now anyways. "Thank you," she tells him.

"For what?" he asks, looking at her in surprise which is fair because she's also surprised she's thanking Zuko of all people.

"This isn't easy for you, but you're doing it anyways."

He looks at her in confusion. "There isn't anybody else to do this unless you think I've got some cousins or other siblings lying around. This is my responsibility."

"You still had a choice. I don't know what got you banished in the first place, but you wouldn't have gotten here if you hadn't believed in the Avatar in some way. You could have been like Zhao or Azula. It's not easy to go against what it seems like all of your people are supporting, I know. Not even General Iroh is doing this, but you are."

"Oh," he says, looking uncomfortable at the praise. "I still don't know if that's deserving of thanks, but I see your point."

She smiles at him.

He clears his throat and says, "I am grateful that you're here as well. I certainly underestimated you and your brother when we first met, but you're both capable and deserving of the Avatar's trust. I appreciate and thank you for what you have done to assist my uncle and I here in Ba Sing Se."

She flushes because she can't imagine a higher compliment from him than telling her she deserves to be Aang's waterbending master when so many would rather someone else, someone older or a man even if her brother is included in it. "Do you want me to tell him that or do you want to keep his ego small?"

Zuko smiles at that. "I think we can let it go for now."

He offers her his arm like she's a proper courtly lady, not a girl from a little tribe dressed up in half borrowed clothes, and she tries not to blush too hard when she accepts it.

* * *

Yeah this could easily go into a complete AU version of season 3 but if it took me this long to get out 3 chapters you can kind of imagine how an entire season might go because they really do need more Fire Nation support to have Zuko put on the throne. I just don't want to get that far into even if I didn't get to a lot of headcanons I could have incorporated. I did try to keep Earth Kingdom more Chinese style in fashion specifically with it being like the King and those in power were like the Manchu Qing dynasty who had come into power over the Han Chinese majority. In the show, King Kuei does wear the more simple versions of Manch fashion which was normal for Manchu emperors outside of formal events. In the Qing dynasty, the Manchu did make Han men wear the braided hairstyle and so cutting it could sort of been seen as a protest. Hair pieces were historically a thing both in western and eastern countries, I just don't know if they could do it for hair quite as short as Zuko's and it's not so common for men to wear the hair pieces. That's it history wise I think.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!


	4. Before Awakening

Uh so I liked this AU and kept playing around with the idea enough to write a few snippets as to what season 3 would start to look like. This is essentially covering the time Aang would have been unconscious from the lightning which had to be a decent chunk of time given how much hair he grew. These are just segments rather than a fully fleshed out story. I still consider this story complete so this and any other snippets I add are just bonus content. Hope you enjoy anyways!

* * *

Zuko wakes the morning after his introduction to court as the sun breaks over the horizon. He starts upon his morning meditation having truly learned its usefulness after completely abandoning it during his travels alone. Once he finishes, he doesn't know what to do next. He ponders on the question as he goes through his morning routine, dressing in attire prepared for him by the palace servants.

He thinks of what Master Katara had told him about Long Feng's conspiracy. The Earth Kingdom was saddled with a king that didn't know how to be a king. It's not like he knew much more honestly. He'd been born fourth in line to the throne with no one ever really expecting him to rule. He'd only spent a few measly years as the crown prince before being banished. The last three years had been scrubbed clean of classes on etiquette, policy, and other princely matters. He'd learned much, but not to rule.

General How had informed him that he was to alert the palace staff when he left his chambers so that he could be guided through the confusing palace. Zuko walks out of his rooms without calling upon anyone as he wasn't inclined to call upon his own wardens. He'd already explored much of the palace in the early mornings before anyone but the kitchen staff had woken. Well, that and the maids they needed to light fires in certain chambers which Zuko had never heard of before. Perhaps the noble houses in the Fire Nation without any firebenders had servants for that purpose, but typically not being able to light your own fire would be shameful.

Still, Zuko had need of a library and surely someone would be up to tell him where the nearest one was. The palace he had grown up in had a library as well as nearly every set of chambers' studies functioning as libraries with bookcases on every available wall space. Surely the Earth King's palace would have something similar even if his own chambers didn't have a study.

He searches around the palace for a considerable amount of time, picking at the hair the stylist had added to his head. He had coiled it into a bun as he had been taught as a child and the length of it seemed to have survived the night alright after he'd let it back into the ponytail. His scalp however feels tight and itchy from the added weight and whatever they'd done to attach the hair.

He eventually finds a maid in one of the corridors and called out to her. She bows as he approaches. "Excuse me, is there a library in the palace?" he asks.

"Yes, your highness," she says in a practiced polite tone. "It's further down this hall and then you take the second corridor on the left. It will be at the end of the hall."

"Thank you," he says, giving her a shallow nod before continuing on down the hall.

When he turns down the second corridor he sees double doors with one of the doors propped open. Past that, he can see bookshelves filled with books. He picks up his pace while being careful to not look like he's hurrying. He enters the room and finds the librarian sitting at a desk with glasses perched on his nose reading a ledger.

"Excuse me, sir," he says politely to draw his attention.

"Yes?" the librarian says, looking up. He briefly looks surprised to see Zuko standing in front of him then he clears his throat. "How can I help you?"

"I need books, scrolls, anything on Earth Kings. The good ones, bad ones, any books on how to be a king," he says, not certain what kind of information the palace library holds. It's broad enough to get something if there's less selection than there appears.

"I see someone is taking their duties seriously," the librarian says as he gets up from his seat. He guides Zuko through the library picking up various books and muttering to himself about where certain books might be.

"Here, let's go back to the desk and I'll explain," the librarian says after he's gathered a fair sized stack of books.

"Thank you," Zuko says as he follows him back.

"Now, you gave me a rather broad topic so I've picked what I think might be most pertinent to you," he explains as he begins to make a record in the ledger. "I have a few volumes on the greatest Earth Kings as well as a couple on the various city kings in the kingdom. Lastly, there are a couple of collections of political treatises on kings as well as other governmental officials. Hopefully, that will satisfy you for now."

"Thank you," Zuko repeats as he takes the stack of books.

Getting to the Earth King with all of the books is a little more tricky. The tutor had warned him that even he had to schedule an appointment with King Kuei in order to see him even though he was his ward now. Which was weird because King Kuei couldn't be more than ten years older than him. In any case, he knew where the King's chambers were and maybe he could get something to work even if he'd only been able to see the King in the presence of his generals before.

The guards look at him and his stack of books without any suspicion just confusion. "You aren't on the list to see the Earth King."

"Is anyone?" Zuko asks, wondering if Long Feng or at least one of the Dai Li had controlled the King's social schedule prior to this. He wonders who controls it now.

The guards look at each other, and Zuko thinks that maybe no one does. He wouldn't be surprised if everyone is trying to pretend things are normal when they really, really aren't. Zuko tries again. "Can I wait in his study for him?"

The guards looks at each other again.

"I'm his ward, surely I'm able to meet with him informally."

"Yes, your highness," the older of the two guards says. "His study is on the right after you enter."

"Thank you," he says, nodding to them as he passes. One of the guards has to open the door for him with his hands full of books.

The Earth King's study looks more like a room with a desk than a study. No bookshelves or books or places for files and letters or anything else that came with administrative work. Simply a bare desk, a couple of chairs, and then a sofa at the back. Zuko sets the books on the desks and waits.

Eventually, it takes so long for the Earth King to leave his bed chambers that Zuko begins reading one of the books on the greatest Earth Kings. It's mid morning before he hears movement in the main room. Zuko quickly stands and moves to the door. "King Kuei, your majesty," he says, using the bow he had learned from the tutor.

"Oh," King Kuei says, startled. "You're here early."

Zuko quickly realizes that King Kuei has only put a robe over his sleeping clothes and is completely unready for the day. "It's mid-morning. I have been up since dawn. I have a matter of some importance to address with you, your majesty."

"I think we can skip some of the formality at this point," King Kuei says with a sigh as he rubs his forehead like he's wondering when this became his life.

Zuko finds it a little ridiculous because it's not like King Kuei has suddenly become the ward of a foreign nation his country has been trying to colonize for the last century. "If it pleases you," he says, nodding his head.

He nods then says, "Let me dress, and we'll discuss your matter. You don't mind Bosco do you?"

The bear makes his presence known by making a rumbling noise as he enters the room. King Kuei doesn't wait for an answer as he returns to his bed chamber, leaving Zuko with the bear. Bosco at least doesn't seem to have much interest in him as he walks over to a bed laid out for him in the main room and flops down there.

"You and your master are very alike, aren't you?" Zuko asks quietly.

Bosco makes a rumbling noise, and it sounds like agreement. Zuko sighs. At least it isn't attacking him.

King Kuei returns wearing informal light green clothes. "What have you come to discuss?" he asks as he follows Zuko into his study.

"I have some books to show you," he says, gesturing to the stack of books. "You were kept from your duties as king by Long Feng, and I have been far from home for three years. If we are to be the kings the people, the world, needs us to be, I think we both have some studying to do."

King Kuei says nothing as he moves around to stand behind the desk and look at the books. "These are from the palace library?"

"Yes, the librarian assisted me in choosing which texts," he answers with a nod.

"I have read much, but not these books in particular," he says, sitting down at the desk and picking up the top book. "This, I can do."

Zuko nods, relieved that they have both found a first step for moving forward.

* * *

Katara hears Aang huff next to her. "Why do we have to keep coming to these?"

"You're the Avatar," she points out. "The real question is why I'm here."

Zuko, in doing the right thing, had managed to make all of their lives worse. Once King Kuei got started on his how to be a king lessons from Zuko, he's been on a self improvement bend. First, he had long political discussions with the advisers who had once been Long Feng's. He had even removed some of them from their positions though he had yet to find replacements for everyone. Then he began actually attending his own parties properly and speaking with the nobles and even making decisions about who to invite and other matters that were subtly political. Aang and Katara had no choice but to attend the parties at the palace, even Sokka and Toph hadn't been able to avoid them forever. Then came the invitations to events outside the palace. Zuko had to go everywhere the king went obviously, but Katara wasn't sure why it was so important that she and Aang attend.

"Please, don't leave me," Aang says, grabbing her arm like he thought she would drift away. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be telling these people."

Aang still got softer questions than Zuko did as he was still a child, but the longer they spent attending these parties, the more people wanted to know. Some people clearly wanted to be liked by them while others seemed to have only invited them out of politeness.

"I don't know either," she says, shrugging. "Ask Zuko. He's the one giving king lessons. Maybe he has advice for the avatar."

"I did this morning. He told me to talk to General Iroh," he says with a sigh, dropping her arm.

"And what did he say?"

"I'm not sure. It was either something about trusting my instincts while being polite or actually about how to serve tea properly," Aang says. "The monks were less confusing."

Katara sighs because she doesn't know what to tell him. She'd forced herself to go back and learn more from that awful tutor so she could try and keep afloat at these parties. She was managing to at least put names to faces and names to what the families did. She hadn't insulted anyone accidentally either. She'd also had to go back to the tailor, and now both she and Aang had several outfits of formal Earth Kingdom clothes for all the events they were going to. Still, she just felt lost.

She'd watched, usually by sneaking, her father speak with the elders or the other men before he'd left. She'd also listen to him ask tough questions that were either painfully real or completely metaphorical of Sokka to train him to be the next chief. She'd even listened to her grandmother perform politics among the tribe's women after her father and the men had left. Their tribe was small though and their politics small. There were no parties and tricky words and different bows. Just somber and severe discussions.

Katara starts making her way over to the food just to have something to do when she notices someone smoothly making their way to a window.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asks, crossing her arms.

Zuko sighs and turns to face her. "Sneaking out?"

"Seriously? You're the whole reason we're suffering through all of this."

"He's the king. He should have been doing this to begin with," he points out, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Or did you not want to follow through after ousting Long Feng?"

"I do, but why does that mean you get to sneak out? It's just as important that you're here."

He sighs, dropping his hand. "I know, trust me, I do, but I'm a firebender. These events go much later than they ever did back home because no one else here always gets up at dawn."

"Oh," Katara says, now looking at Zuko with fresh eyes. He looks sick and has dark circles under his eyes. These events were terrible, but at least she had her full energy at night to deal with them. "What exactly is your plan?"

"If I don't leave formally, hopefully people will think I'm just somewhere else at the event instead of rudely leaving early."

"Did you tell the King?"

He shrugs. "He's always surrounded now that he actually has an idea of what he's doing. I'd never get out if I went up to him."

"And when he wants to leave and can't find you?"

"I told his guard. He'll let him know."

It's better thought out than his normal plans. "Fine, go get some sleep."

He nods then gives her a proper bow, much shallower than the ones he'd given her before being named ward. "Good evening, Master Katara."

She shakes her head and turns to go find Aang, wondering when she'll get used to her title coming from Zuko.

* * *

Zuko sits with his uncle at dusk, drinking tea with him on the one night he had off for the next few days. "My father," he starts, and for a moment it hurts too much to continue.

Iroh says nothing and waits.

"He's not a good king."

"No," Iroh agrees with a sigh. "He is not."

* * *

Katara waits impatiently with the royal entourage at the docks of Ba Sing Se with her hand clenched around Sokka's arm. He had already gotten a chance to see their father, but this is hers. It feels like they've been waiting forever. They'd arrived early so King Kuei could explore the docks. General Iroh had even joined them for once, and he recounted his experience there as a refugee to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately, General How had come with them as well, and he kept a sharp watch over her, Zuko, and General Iroh.

She glances behind herself to check the royal entourage. General How scowls back at her, and she quickly shifts her glance to King Kuei. She doesn't know how politically savvy he's gotten, but he's certainly far less shy about asking for information he wants to know. Zuko stands out from the rest with his dark hair still in a long ponytail and his red clothes compared to the lighter greens.

"Look," Sokka shouts, grabbing her arm. "They're here."

She turns back to the water, and she can see the water tribe ships come into view. She clutches her brother, hardly able to believe this is happening.

Her father's ship docks first. After some moments, the first group of men descend from the ship with Hakoda at the lead. He looks older than she remembers, but he still looks fit and healthy. The men all wear their armor, but with their helmets tucked under their arms rather than on their heads. It's likely the nicest clothes they have aboard.

She glances at Sokka to find him looking back at her. The appropriate thing to do is wait for Hakoda to formally greet them at the main dock. They both don't care. They start racing down the docks towards their father.

"Dad!" Katara shouts, launching herself at him.

"Katara," he says, so tenderly as he catches her and wraps her in his arms. He smells the same as she remembers.

Sokka wraps his arms around the both of them.

"It's good to see you both together," Hakoda says giving them a squeeze. "We can talk more later. There's work to be done."

Katara pulls back from him and nods. Bato hands her father back his helmet, and he tucks it under his arm again. Bato gives her and Sokka a smile then the whole group begins to move up the dock. She grabs her father's arm as they move. Quietly she tells him, "When you get there you should bow to the King after you're announced, but not too deeply."

Her father nods and just as quietly says, "Thank you."

They stop before the King and his entourage. The soldiers spread out more into a line opposite to the cluster of the Earth Kingdom courtiers. One of the King's men steps into the gap between the two groups, and Katara recognizes him as one of the men who works in the palace.

"Your majesty, may I present Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe," he announces in a clear and loud voice. "Chief Hakoda, his royal majesty King Kuei of the Earth Kingdom."

Hakoda bows, careful to keep it shallow. King Kuei returns a bow of equal depth.

"Chief Hakoda," King Kuei says then gestures to Zuko. "May I present to you his highness, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation."

Katara expects Zuko to bow shallowly with his hands forming a flame. He does not. Instead, he sinks down to his knees, puts his hands upon the ground, and bows so that his forehead nearly touches his hands. She stares at him in shock. She'd never thought someone as proud and fierce as Zuko would be capable of such a thing. Everyone else seems to be in shock as awkward silence passes.

King Kuei clears his throat then says, "You may rise, Prince Zuko."

Zuko does as commanded, rising to his feet as if prostrating himself in front of a potential enemy were normal. There's not even a hint of shame on his face.

"That is the customary bow to both the Fire Lord and foreign leaders in the Fire Nation, I have learned," King Kuei explains.

It's barely less shocking when General Iroh does the same to Hakoda after his introduction, though this time Hakoda makes sure to tell him to stand immediately. Afterward, both parties begin to move back towards the palace in carriages. The man who had made the initial announcement travels with the Water Tribes as they make their way back to explain the history and architecture of Ba Sing Se.

"That was crazy, right?" Sokka asks her while everyone else is paying attention to the history lecture.

"What was?" she asks back.

"Zuko bowing like that," he says.

"Yeah."

"The Fire Nation is weird," Sokka says, shaking his head.

* * *

"So, what do you think, Dad?" Sokka asks, taking a seat on one of the sofas in their father's new chambers.

Her father sighs as he sits down. It has been a long day for him. Katara at least had an escape with having to train Aang. Her father, however, had spoken with nearly every civilian adviser the Earth King had before having a long meeting with only King Kuei and Zuko.

"It's strange," Hakoda says eventually. "It's both an unfortunate position and the biggest opportunity I've ever been given."

"What do you mean?" Sokka asks.

"This has been a long war of attrition on our parts. There are no grand battles for us, no decisive moves. Not from the Southern Water Tribe at least, not in my life time. We inconvenience every Fire Nation ship we can to support the Earth Kingdom armies, and keep out of their grasp. It is long and hard, but we can do it. We're well practiced at it now," he explains. "A coup is a different beast entirely."

"I know it's risky, but I don't think there's ever going to be a better opportunity," Sokka says. "That's why the generals have been arguing things every which way to make everything go as well as possible."

"I know. Some how in the past few months, you two have accomplished more than I ever have in this war," Hakoda says, and Katara somehow doesn't expect the frankness from him. It is a mere statement of fact. "The appearance of the Avatar has changed so much. The Northern Water Tribe has opened itself to us again. We now somehow have two Fire Nation royals joining our cause and a third in prison here."

"That's not as helpful as I thought it would be," Sokka says with a sigh. "General Iroh seems to be in charge of her imprisonment, and she won't say anything about the Fire Nation or anything else to anyone."

"But what could she really give us that General Iroh won't know? She's our age, and General Iroh has a lot more experience with the Fire Nation Army and the Fire Lord. What's the problem with our position?" Katara asks. "There are risks, but there are just as many with continuing to fight the war as we have. Like you said, we've shifted the balance already. Why can't we do more?"

Hakoda sighs. "I looked over the latest plans from the generals. Everyone's biggest concern seems to be when best to use the eclipse, but it's not mine. We still need to get the Earth King's armies to the Fire Nation to succeed, and there are no ships. I've seen the commissions for war ships, but the Earth Kingdom has never been a great naval power, and we've never built ships big enough for armies. Prince Zuko also brought up another point that hadn't formally made it into the plans as well."

"What's that?" Sokka asks.

Hakoda looks grim. "Many Fire Nation civilians are former soldiers. They require all able bodied citizens to serve at least two years in the military when they reach adulthood, even the nobles. They return home afterwords. He suggested the reason that General Iroh has been pushing for using the eclipse at the culmination of our attack is because we'll need it to be able to push into the Capital where nearly every person there would be ready, willing, and able to fight against an invading army.

"That's," Katara cuts herself off because she doesn't even know what to say to that. The Fire Nation essentially had no civilian population. They wouldn't just have serving soldiers to deal with, but the actual citizenry to fight. "How do we even deal with that?"

"That's why it's an unfortunate position," Hakoda says. "I suggested that we let General Iroh lead the attack to garner support given his popularity and how he's seen as being usurped. Prince Zuko disagreed because it would be the nation's worst fears realized to have General Iroh try and return as a conquerer with a foreign army against Ozai."

"So what do we do instead?" Sokka asks.

"King Kuei suggested that we need to drum up support for Prince Zuko, the Avatar, and peace though that definitely doesn't solve the issue of it being a coup by a foreign army still," Hakoda says with a sigh.

"How would that even work?" Katara asks. "We just send a few guys over to start talking Zuko up? They wouldn't even be able to get into the country and who would believe them?"

"No, we'd probably have to send Prince Zuko to speak to them himself."

"Isn't he considered a traitor now?" Sokka asks. "That would be even worse. He'd be killed on sight!"

"Not if they wanted him to be Fire Lord instead which is why King Kuei even suggested it," Hakoda explains. "Plenty of Earth Kingdom generals have successfully sent spies into the Fire Nation over the years, but King Kuei and his current generals have only recently gotten access to all those records. Fire Lord Azulon had been popular in the Fire Nation, and many people had been looking forward to General Iroh's reign especially given his military success. Ozai has not been popular among the Fire Nation people. Apparently, once it became clear that General Iroh wasn't going to try and take back the throne, much of those feelings turned towards Prince Zuko. It seems their hopes for his reign only increased after his banishment as General Iroh went with him as his mentor. Many seem to think that Ozai naming him a traitor only improves his prospects as the next Fire Lord, that Ozai is threatened by him."

"I suppose it makes sense," Sokka says, rubbing his chin. "So the logic is if Ozai hates him then he really must be doing the right thing."

"Zuko never said any of that," Katara says. "He said that people would only support him because they know General Iroh backs him, not because of anything he's done."

"How would he know?" Hakoda asks. "He hasn't been home in three years and neither has General Iroh. Besides, it's the average people we're talking about, not the nobles they'd have been in contact with."

"So Zuko is a good option," Katara says, wonderingly. She supposes she can see it now after seeing him in court and not as an enemy. Surely he is a better option than Ozai.

Hakoda nods. "I intend to back him."

Silence reigns for a moment as they all mull over those words. The Chief of the Southern Water Tribe backing the great grandson of the man who began a war against them.

"We just need to get him into the Fire Nation so more people back him and the coup," Sokka says, already sounding like he's halfway into a plan. "He's not going to be able to go alone."

"I know," Hakoda says.

"So who do we send with him?" Katara asks.

Hakoda looks at her and shrugs. She thinks it's the first time she's ever seen him without some sort of answer.

* * *

Zuko pushes his sweat damp hair back from his face.

"You're good, kid," the guard says, smiling.

Zuko nods because even though his swordsmanship is improving his flames are still pitiful. Uncle's proverbs hadn't helped him find them yet.

"I've gotta get back for my next shift," the guard says. "Let me know when you're up for sparring again."

Zuko nods again like he hasn't been sparring with whichever palace guard was available for the past week.

"You ever fight an earthbender?"

Zuko turns to see the Avatar's earthbending master standing at the edge of the training ground. "I have."

Toph grins. "Wanna try sparring with me? Never seen a firebender with weapons before."

Zuko considers her. He hasn't seen her fight for himself, but he's heard plenty of others talk about her ability. She wouldn't be the Avatar's master if she weren't at least at Master Katara's level. It wouldn't hurt to see her in action. "You would be alright with me using my swords?"

She shrugs before joining him on the training grounds. "Sure, that's what I'm here fore. It's not like they'll help you any."

She's confident. Zuko's faced confident enemies before.

"Very well then," he says, shifting into an opening stance with his hand over the hilt of his sword as she does the same.

Neither of them move. Zuko can't trust his flames to be an effective projectile weapon. He either needs to get in range of her or she must come in range of him. She, of course, waits for him to make the first move like a true earthbending master. Firebenders usually take the offensive. It's the prime tactic for the entirety of the war against the patient Earth Kingdom. But right now, Zuko is not acting as a firebender would.

"Hey, Toph," comes from inside the building. "Oh."

Zuko sees Sokka come to stand at the edge of the training ground out of the corner of his eye, adding an aspect to the landscape.

"What are you two doing?" he asks then crosses his arms. "You just going to stand there all day?"

Zuko moves, trying to eat up the distance between them before she can launch any stones at him. He needs to be faster than any defense she can build. She raises a bolder to stop him. He narrowly avoids taking it to the chest. He does his best to spread fire along the ground to break her root as he runs. There isn't much flame, but she takes a step back all the same. He unsheathes his swords as she prepares an attack. He holds the blades to her neck. She stops a rock protruding from the ground from breaking his ribs.

"You are good," she says, sounding both surprised and annoyed.

Zuko sheathes his blade. "Yeah, tying a twelve year old with a pair of swords is real impressive."

"Hey," she snaps, pointing a finger at his face. "You're talking to the world's greatest earthbender here."

Zuko resists making a sarcastic comment and wonders how the Avatar keeps finding all these prodigies. Too bad Azula couldn't be here instead of him.

* * *

Katara turns when she hears the creak of the door. She turns expecting to see one of the palace's servants, but instead finds Zuko carrying a tray of tea.

"What are you doing here?" she asks. "Pretty sure you're not supposed to be here."

They should both be asleep, but more importantly she's fairly certain many people would get upset at finding Zuko in her chambers at night.

"I know, but we need to talk," he says, coming forward and setting the tea tray down on the small table between the sofas.

"About?" she asks, getting up from the desk she'd been reading about the Fire Nation at to join him at the table.

"Tea first," he says.

"I didn't know you needed tea to be able to talk," she says, crossing her arms.

"Uncle prefers to give important and potentially bad news over tea," he explains.

She frowns. She had no idea what he has to talk to her at night and alone for, and the warning isn't making her feel any better about it. She takes a seat on the sofa and watches him. He moves his hand over the pot and suddenly there's steam coming from it.

"I'm not very good at making tea," he says and he picks up a pouch full of leaves like Katara's seen the servants use and places it in the pot. "But it will have to do for tonight."

Katara shrugs. "We don't really do tea in the Water Tribe so it's not like I have refined taste."

"You like it enough to have gone to Uncle's tea shop," he says.

She shakes her head because that one action had brought all this. "Mostly just wanted something to drink."

"You picked an auspicious time to get thirsty."

She smiles even though she's pretty sure he didn't mean it as a joke. Eventually, he pours two cups of tea and passes one to her. She takes a sip, and it tastes like tea.

"What exactly is it that you wanted to talk about?" Katara asks once he's sat down across from her with his own cup.

Zuko says nothing for a moment, staring down into his tea like it'll tell him what to say. "If this coup works, I think they'll ask you to marry me."

"What?" she asks, not sure what emotion lies behind it. The whole thing is just ridiculous. No one would be thinking that. It's just…Zuko doesn't joke and he looks completely serious. She drinks her tea, suddenly grateful he brought it.

"I just wanted to warn you in case you hadn't thought that far ahead," he says, gentle.

"Why would they ask me that?"

"Who else could they ask?" he counters. "I don't think they'd be likely to let me marry someone from the Fire Nation. They'll want to strengthen every tie they possibly can between me and the rest of the world. The Air Nomads only have Aang. The closest female relative the Earth King has is a second cousin. Chief Arnook doesn't even have an heir anymore."

"They can't just do that," she insists angrily.

"Why not?" he asks. "Do they let you pick who to marry in the Water Tribe? I'm sure some choose for themselves in the Fire Nation, but most use matchmakers. Some of the noble families even work out marriage arrangements before children are even born."

"It depends," she says and the fire goes out of her. She's not betrothed because there's hardly anyone for her to marry. She'd thought of it before, but it had been completely pushed out of her mind by Aang's arrival. She'd had greater more immediate concerns. "Why are we talking about this if they haven't even brought it up yet? You only think they'll do it which means they haven't actually done it yet."

Zuko looks away. Then he takes a deep breath in and the breath he lets out is tinged with smoke. "I thought it might be better to ask you first. It seemed…kinder."

"Kinder?" she asks, shocked. She can't wrap her head around any of this, and there's not enough tea in the world for this. "Why would proposing to me because something might happen be anywhere in the realm of kind?"

"You can say no to me, but you may not be able to say no to them," he says then takes a sip of his tea like he doesn't just keep upending everything she knows. "I won't. I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep my people safe. They don't deserve to pay for my ancestor's deeds."

She clenches her teeth and tries to think her way out of this, but why wouldn't they ask this? They've already made him ward to the Earth King. Now, he just needs a tie to the Water Tribe. They already know each other and have worked as allies. She's the only option and the best option for the wife of a Fire Lord that everyone desperately needs to show proof that he has empathy for the rest of the world.

"I don't know," she says through her teeth. A month ago she would have raged at the idea of marrying him, been disgusted at the thought of being tied to him in any manner. Before he'd been the face of the enemy, and now he'd become one of the strongest allies to her people aside from Aang. Politically, she agrees wholeheartedly that the next Fire Lady should be someone who could stop Zuko should he forget what the Fire Nation owes the world. She would work perfectly as someone able to hold their own against Zuko. Unfortunately, marriage would be the most intimate tactic to put her in such a position. She doesn't know that she can take that. Would that truly be how she could best serve her people?

"Hopefully, you won't need to," he says. "I could be wrong."

She didn't think he was wrong about this.

"I don't know what I think of it," she says eventually.

He nods. "Well, let me know when you do."

He finishes his tea, sets the cup on the tray, and leaves her alone with her thoughts.

* * *

So notes by segment:

1\. Mostly I'm just doing proper follow through with the Earth King. I know he went of traveling to learn, but that's actually not going to help you learn how to be a king even if you learn more about your own people. You still need to learn to deal with politics and administrative work. So Zuko gets him a book.

2\. I definitely imagine the Fire Nation has the earliest of the evening activities even if some continue until after dark, but come on. Any firebender in another culture would suffer social jet lag from always being up too late for when they wake.

3\. We get basically nothing about how Ozai is as a ruler beyond his military plans, namely promoting Zhao and agreeing with generals that sacrifice troops and personally burning the Earth Kingdom. I could count not caring about the environment and nationalistic and incorrect school curriculum but I imagine those were more likely in place before he took the throne and he just didn't correct them. In any case, I can't see Ozai being all that politically savvy when he wasn't able to predict that his father would not be down to move Iroh out of the line to the throne. It probably would have ended with him in the dog house forever had Azulon not died and Iroh gone on a spiritual journey instead of returning home.

4\. I don't know if the bow would be what Fire Nation people would use for foreign rulers but they do use it for the Fire Lord.

Also, I really do think the Water Tribe's armor would be the best looking, it's at least the most visually interesting of their outfits canonically.

5\. I think the reason the show went with such a small invasion force aside from Ba Sing Se having fallen was that they wouldn't want to show something like D Day on a kids show or animate very large battles. The strength of the show relied on the martial art combat so one v one and small group v small group. This is fanfic though and I don't have an animation budget. There's an army and an army needs lots of big ships to get to an island, but the island has naval supremacy so fun logistical times. Also, the Fire Nation is itty bitty islands out to conquer much bigger countries. They need every person they can get, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had laws like in medieval England where every free man was required to carry a weapon suited to his station so they could be conscripted (see Assize of Arms of 1181).

As for popularity, I imagine Azulon was popular due to military success and then just being Fire Lord for so long. Ozai would just be unpopular from the get go from usurping Iroh after the mysterious death of Azulon and the sudden disappearance of his wife. It's bad optics and he doesn't have the military prestige of Iroh and is also promoting people who get entire navies slaughtered. I'm pretty sure he was never popular and people were real quick to turn to hope his heir gets the throne soon. Still, coups with a foreign army are frowned upon especially if the Fire Nation is still like we don't care about the Avatar. Again, this is like the average citizen's perspective, though I imagine there are plenty of military men and those among the nobility that would have preferred Iroh strongly to Ozai and are willing to accept Zuko instead. People don't like having asshole bosses.

And then I just try to set up for Gaang Still Has Adventures in the Fire Nation.

7\. If it weren't a kid's cartoon show, no one is marrying for love. Especially not any royalty. Like, just consider the English royal family only this generation married outside of the nobility even though they've been a constitutional monarchy for some time. Canonically, I'm pretty sure Zuko would have been strongly pressured to marry outside of the Fire Nation to exert more control over him and future generations of Fire Lords. Katara would literally be the only option because there aren't even any other female royalty aside from Azula. It's her or Zuko marries someone of nobility not royalty or someone very much his junior. That Katara is a waterbender who can match Zuko is just a nice bonus.

Sorry these notes are so long, but I hope you liked the update!


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